Complexities of Blackmail
by Aquarius Galuxy
Summary: [Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power.] Lieutenant Tenten finds herself caught in a web of blackmail when Lt Hyuuga Neji stumbles upon her doing what she shouldn't have been. Mere rivalry between old teammates turns into something deeper, much to Tenten's horror and bewilderment. NejiTen.
1. Prologue

_Thought I'd drop a little bit of a teaser for you guys - there'll be fewer updates over these two weeks due to my trip. ;) _

_Complexities of Blackmail was inspired by a dream I had sometime in July... It has evolved into a somewhat complicated story, and I've already begun thinking about the sequel to it. ;) Special thanks to_ white noise and brine_ for drawing the cover image!__ **This is rated M for various questionable scenes - read on at your own discretion.**_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Prologue**

_Planet Aesis, Nov 15, 2030, 1630 hrs_

"Know your positions?" Lieutenant Tenten glances at her subordinates from the corner of her eye, releasing the safety on her pulse gun. "Remember, we only need to extract Quachron and his inner circle - seven of them. No more, no less."

Beside her, Second Lieutenants Rock Lee and Inuzuka Kiba nod, similar firearms at the ready. "You've told us the same thing ten times in the last thirty minutes," Kiba mutters, a wolfish grin flashing across his face.

"Five times, Inuzuka. Don't exaggerate." Tenten narrows her eyes at him. Kiba looks skywards.

She ignores him and checks the clear emerald visor fixed over her left eye, pushing a button on its frame to switch between screens (one shows her physical stats and ammunition supplies, another contains details of their mission). Lee and Kiba are each wearing one as well - the visor rides on their ears and serves as a communication device, a brilliant invention by the scientists aboard the _Konoha_.

The shadowed alley they're crouched in is empty, save for trash cans and unmarked doors along cement walls; high above, on the main street, hovercrafts zoom by, civilian vehicles oblivious to their presence. It's the perfect city, the perfect place on Aesis for drug lords to do their business, because few pay attention to the goings-on at ground level, especially where streets are dimly-lit at night, and most are in a hurry to get home before the suffocating darkness descends.

"I'm moving out," Kiba announces, slipping away from their shadows towards a particular steel door. Tenten watches as he plants a code-breaker just above the door knob - the keypad flashes a couple of times, and seconds later, the indicator light turns green. Kiba gives a signal; Tenten and Lee are instantly on their feet, flanking him, keeping their backs to the building wall.

The door swings open to reveal an empty, darkened room. Kiba touches his visor to activate his infrared vision, scans the uninhabited space from behind the doorjamb, and heads in. In that moment, Lee glances over at Tenten, bushy eyebrows lowered with determination, and the look in his eyes says, _I'll do my best_.

Tenten smiles at him - she trusts Lee and Kiba with her life. Years of working together have made Dragon Platoon a well-oiled fighting unit, and close-combat missions are her favorite. There's no telling when or how something might break this routine, though, so Tenten savors every exhilarating minute of it.

She nods at Lee, and they activate their infrared visions at the same time, heading through the doorway after Kiba.

* * *

><p>It turns out that they've walked right into a trap, when a heavy metal door slams right behind them and the bolts slide shut. Lee and Kiba look to Tenten. They are in the middle of the building, in a windowless room, and have no way out. The information sources have screwed up - Tenten curses, looks around for a way to break into Quachron's offices.<p>

She toggles the visor so it displays the floor plan of the building - the drug lord must know of their presence by now, so a surreptitious attack will not work. A surprise entry it is, then.

Tenten reaches into the pouch at her waist, pulling an explosive out. She sets it for five seconds, sprints forward, and affixes it onto the corner where two walls meet. All three of them take cover-

_Boom!_

A cloud of dust and debris sweeps into the storage space. There is no knowing what lies behind these walls - they duck below the misguided shots flying from the gaping concrete hole, and pick off the enemies that make the mistake of showing themselves.

"Radar," Tenten orders, pointing to the room diagonally across from the impromptu entrance. Kiba and Lee nod, toggling their visors, and the three of them start forward, stunning Quachron's underlings with their pulse guns, aided by the additional visibility that radar provides.

They slip through the door quickly, barely avoiding a patrol, and make their way silently down corridors and up stairs, ghost-like, until they've reached the highest floor, where the important offices are.

"Looks like they're all in one room," Tenten mutters to her team. The visor shows seven people clustered around a table on the west wing. "But these might be impostors - that blast was warning enough. We'll capture these guys first and work our way from there."

Lee and Kiba nod, and they sprint out into the offices in single file, searching for security cameras and unexpected company. Surprisingly, nothing gets in their way, and even more surprisingly, Quachron and his inner circle are all present in the meeting room Tenten kicks the door down to, seated around a polished table. All men turn towards them. Her visor matches the facial profiles of the men to _Konoha_'s database. Seven out of seven.

Quachron gets to his feet at the head of the table, well-fed belly stretching out his business suit. "What do we have here?" he rumbles.

It seems almost too easy, really, until Quachron snaps his fingers, and every man in the inner circle pulls a pulse gun out, state-of-the-art ones that Tenten dreams longingly about. Six versus three.

She curses; Dragon Platoon dives out of the way of fatal shots, though Tenten swears again when tens of laser guns are lowered from the ceiling, aimed at them. Kiba mutters a low expletive.

"This is just another form of training!" Lee exclaims, rolling behind a metal desk.

"Kiba! Use the smoke bomb on them. Lee and I will handle this," Tenten orders. Kiba throws himself towards the meeting room with a salute; she turns back to the lasers, taking the machines out with rapid accuracy. The smoke bomb will decrease visibility of humans, whereas the guns on the ceiling are likely using infrared to aim. And she and Lee are the sharpshooters on their team.

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><p>"So, what're we waiting for?" Kiba taps his foot impatiently, arms folded. Next to him, Quachron and his inner circle are gagged and bound on the street, stunned for the next few hours or so.<p>

"The police should be arriving soon. Shut up while I work on my report, Kiba," Tenten orders absently, focused on the holographic screen of her palm-sized computer. Lee is on his five hundred and first push-up further down the pavement.

"Sure we can trust the police here with these guys?" Kiba asks dubiously, looking over at her.

She shrugs. "Orders are orders. We don't do anything more than that."

"We should concentrate on the springtime of our youth," Lee tells them, between push-ups, sweat dripping onto the sidewalk. Kiba rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, listen to your Second, Lieutenant. You need to get laid," Kiba remarks offhandedly, swiping at the red face paint on his cheeks. "Lose those twin buns on your head and wear something different for once. You don't have to be in uniform all the time on the _Konoha_, you know."

Tenten flings a poisonous glare at him, tapping hard on her roll-up keyboard. "I'll wear whatever I damn well want, Inuzuka," she growls, annoyed, because Kiba, like their colleague, Ino, can't seem to resist digging at her resolution to not get involved with anyone. She cracks her knuckles. "And whether I sleep with anyone is none of your fucking business."

Kiba tosses an easy grin at her. "Hey, if you wanna beat someone up, these guys here are all yours." He shoves his foot into one of Quachron's sidekicks.

"You make yourself such an easy target, Tenten," Lee sighs next to her, and Tenten pretends not to hear him, hitting 'Send' and powering her computer down. At least all she really suffers from these days is teasing - what can really get worse about her situation, right?

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><p><em>Konoha, Nov 18, 2030, 1145 hrs<em>

The _Byakugan_ docks in the spacious hangar with a quiet hiss. Behind, heavy steel doors roll shut, sealing together to form an airlock, and air is pumped into the cavernous structure, with the same composition as that on Earth's.

Lieutenant Hyuuga Neji leans back into the pilot's seat, closing his lilac eyes for a brief moment. It has been a while since he's been back - two years, to be exact - and he wonders if much has changed here. Updates from his cousin, Hinata, have kept him in the loop on the people filling the various positions (Tsunade is still the Admiral in command of the _Konoha_, and Captain Gai has not yet quit his aggravating spiels about youth - hopefully no more Gai or Lee lookalikes have sprung up during his absence).

Neji suppresses a shudder at the memory of being forced to wear forest-green spandex.

His subordinates, Second Lieutenants Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, have been abuzz with excitement throughout the past two weeks, ever since they were called back from their current mission light years away.

_And for what purpose? To babysit kids?_ Neji's jaw tightens. The mission they've been on was to provide protection for a cluster of planets, and although that does not quite have the same ring to it as a highly dangerous operation, facing off against various aliens, and learning to handle a multitude of situations sure looks a lot better among his achievements than training children.

The only advantage of returning to the _Konoha_, as Neji sees it, would be to give himself a greater presence among his superiors, so that they would be more likely to keep him in mind for a promotion to captaincy. He would do his late father proud with another early advancement in ranks (because there's no doubt that Neji will become a Captain, sooner or later), and having other geniuses like Nara Shikamaru around just means that there are obstacles in his way.

A little part of him is, however, curious about Lieutenant Tenten, from his old trainee cell - but Neji quashes any thoughts beyond whether she's still with Dragon Platoon. She will be but a distraction, after all.

"Good food and women, here we come!" Kotetsu cheers, when the indicator lights in the ship and the hangar both flash green. "We'll take our leave now, Neji."

He nods when Izumo echos the same parting words, slowly unbuckling his seat belt. It will definitely be a nice change to have clean quarters and his laundry done for him, as compared to dealing with the backward technology in the Orion cluster. It will also be pleasant to glimpse Tenten in the hallways once every so often, perhaps.

Maybe his trainees will get to face off against hers.

Neji smirks then, his first satisfied smile in some time. He wonders if she's still as volatile as he remembers her to be. Probably.

In a lighter mood, now, Hyuuga Neji leaves the _Byakugan_, and powers it down.

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><p><em>AN: Yes... a sci-fi spaceship AU. You bet I was super-excited about this. The prologue sets the stage for lots of things to come - are you ready for it? ;)_


	2. 1: Blackmail Begins

_Glad to see the NejiTen fandom coming back to life now that Christmas is just around the corner. ;) I'm finally updating Complexities of Blackmail for real this time, now that f/2.8 is complete._

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. And again, **this is rated M for strange and/or explicit adult content. Read at your own discretion.**_

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><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Chapter 1: Blackmail Begins**

_"Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power." - Oscar Wilde_

_Konoha, Nov 18, 2030, 1508 hrs_

"They want us to train kids! I don't get why only the Lieutenants are being forced to do this!" Tenten grits, looking helplessly at Captain Maito Gai. She folds her arms across her chest and leans back into the seat, paying little mind to the clutter on Gai's desk. "It's a waste of resources, to be honest. What are the instructors for?"

"You're missing the point, youthful lotus," Gai tells her sagely with a bright smile. He leans back into his own chair behind the desk, flashing a thumbs-up. Like the rest of the personnel on the _Konoha_, Gai wears the standard-issue uniform - a full-body sapphire suit, with a leaf-green chevron stretching across his chest. "This is just another form of training."

Tenten rolls her eyes, glancing around at the rest of Gai's office. The Captains' quarters are significantly larger than what Lieutenants are assigned - his steel-walled office is four times the size of the office area in her own quarters, with a side door leading to his personal space, and another to a meeting room. Gai, being the simple man he is, has hardly bothered with displaying his accolades on the wall - the plaques are stacked on a filing cabinet in a corner, and behind him, the _Konoha_'s flag hangs proudly (a logo of a leaf with a swirl in the middle), a stark reminder of why they're all here in the first place.

"Are you sure you and Lee aren't related somehow?" Tenten asks, looking between her former mentor, and a large picture of Lee on his desk. The resemblance between the two is uncanny - few have _not_ noticed how the Captain and his ex-student both possess the same thick, bushy eyebrows and shiny, black bowl-cut, all the way down to their inky eyes, gleaming teeth, and their unnatural obsession with the color green. Secretly, Tenten thinks of Lee as Gai's illegitimate son, that somehow wound up on the _Konoha_ along with her.

And curiously enough, all three students in that particular trainee group of Gai's are orphans: she and Lee, who were plucked from orphanages on Earth, and Hyuuga Neji, whose parents are dead (he was brought up by his strict relatives).

Tenten doesn't think much about Neji now, ever since he graduated early from being a trainee and left herself and Lee behind with the rest of their cohort-mates.

"Well, Lee and I are related in spirit," Gai chuckles good-naturedly. "What did Admiral Tsunade tell you during the meeting?"

"She said that training newbies is part of our peacetime improvement schemes." Tenten exhales, eyebrows knitting together. The overall response of the Lieutenants hasn't been too positive - as Lieutenants, most of them have little inclination towards teaching twelve-year-olds the basics about fighting and strategy. Even the Captains who trained them, like Gai and Hatake Kakashi, only took them on after they'd mastered the basics - there are instructors, like Umino Iruka, who find more joy in grooming the greenhorns.

"It won't go on indefinitely, will it?" Gai probes next, genial. Tenten doesn't like the way he's looking knowingly at her, as if he's privy to something she isn't.

"Why are you even asking when you know all the details, anyway?" she snaps, frowning. "Tsunade said it'd be a trial, until she decides to discontinue it. Which could mean forever."

"She wouldn't do that to you guys." Gai smiles, full set of teeth glinting. "The training will end at some point, when she thinks of a new scheme to roll out."

"Let's hope that isn't more harebrained than this current one," Tenten mutters mutinously. "What will happen to my team? Kiba and Lee can't go out on missions on their own."

"They are on a different trial, to further develop their leadership skills, among others," Gai volunteers.

Tenten frowns further. "More competition for us as Lieutenants?"

"Not quite. They will learn other new skills, such as first aid, and the handling of more weapons."

Envy swims in her gut. "That's not fair."

"Don't fret so much, Tenten. You're allowed to attend additional courses as a Lieutenant," Gai beams at her. "Or perhaps Lee will pass the skills on to you, when he's more proficient at them."

She looks dubiously at Gai, and decides that she'll take on both the extra courses, and get some help from Lee. If there is one thing Tenten absolutely loves about the military, it is the sense of comradeship with her fellows, and the access to a wide variety of weapons for use on the field.

(She could get wet on weapons, but no one needs to know that.)

Tenten's gaze wanders over the photos on Gai's desk with some resignation, when she realizes that he won't agree with her on the futility of the training scheme. A picture of the old Team Gai catches her eye - a photograph taken eight years ago, when she and Lee and Neji were fourteen, and under Gai's mentorship. In that picture, Gai and Lee are full of bright smiles; hers is a little doubtful, and Neji is stoic, as always.

Speaking of Neji... "I saw Neji at the meeting," Tenten blurts. "I thought he was on a long mission."

They had not exchanged words - merely a glance, and that was that. Tenten couldn't help being aware of him though; physically, Neji has not changed much over the past two years. His eyes are as pale as she remembers, ebony hair tied back in a low ponytail. The old crush is long gone, replaced by feelings of neutrality.

Gai nods. "He's been called back for this training scheme."

Tenten blinks mutely at him. That must really suck, to be uprooted from an ongoing mission to deal with kids. "I wouldn't like to be him," she comments.

Gai, however, smiles steadily at her. "Well, this means that all three of you are back on the same ship again, doesn't it? I wonder if Neji needs advice on how to guide his children."

She raises an eyebrow at her former mentor, who is rubbing his chin thoughtfully with a finger. "Neji will be fine," she tells him dryly, "He's a genius, after all."

Not to say that Neji is as much of a prodigy when it comes to dealing with emotions, though.

Gai lifts his eyebrows in turn, and something lights up in his eyes. "I anticipate seeing your team going up against his! Remember, Tenten, teach them the burning power of youth!"

Tenten winces. She isn't looking forward to pitting her team against Neji's (though perhaps her kids might be more naturally talented than his), or even teaching them at all. "I don't know if I can do as good a job as you did, Gai."

He flashes a grin and a thumbs-up at her. "Believe in yourself, Tenten. I know you're capable of it."

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><p>Tenten treads quietly along the hallways of the <em>Konoha<em>, listening out for the sounds of others. It's an hour past midnight, when the majority of the occupants on board the mother ship would be asleep, save for personnel on duty. These corridors, though, leading to the research labs on the ship, are always empty at this time of the night (there is no true night in space, only an arbitrary time everyone lives by).

There's little to see in these passageways - like the rest of the ship, the walls are made of steel, and there are railings along the sides of the walkways, in the event that the ship is thrown into anti-gravity, and people need to move quickly with handholds, instead of floating helplessly through space.

When she gets to her intended corridor, Tenten flicks a switch she carries, to temporarily disable the security camera while she makes her way to the Alien Species Lab IV. A quick iris scan later, the steel door to the lab slides open, and she steps into the familiar orange glow of scattered lamps, scanning the room for another human presence.

She pulls a modified pistol out and aims it at the security cameras in the lab; seconds later, all cameras are disabled, frosted over in such a way that the video feed will continue to display the empty lab from moments ago, leaving no trace of her presence.

This will give her half an hour, though Tenten knows that it always takes less time than that.

The pistol fits snugly in her holster, and she heads forward, weaving through the cacophony of samples - there is a variety of living organisms, ranging from spindly ferns to thick, bulbous shrubs, to a miniature willow-like tree that sways without a wind, and an array of oddly-shaped flowers.

Lab IV is a laboratory for plant-like materials, hence the lack of cages or restraints for the samples. What Tenten seeks tonight - the only thing she visits for, really, is the _tentacula phytum_ all the way at the back of the lab.

A familiar thrill sweeps across her skin when she lays her eyes on the slow-moving pile of tentacles set low on the floor, in a wide, shallow pot. Purple and glistening under the orange lamplight, each appendage is an inch across, and longer than her arm. She imagines those thick, heavy tentacles sliding across her skin, and bites her lip, her breaths coming quicker.

Tenten reaches for the zip that connects the top half of her uniform to the bottom, tugging at it with a quiet rasp. With that, her pants are separated from her top, and she shrugs out of the garments covering her lower body, kicking her shoes off.

She settles herself on the cold floor right next to the metal pot, legs spread, exposing her center to the _tentacula_ (her heart is pounding, and desire creeps along her veins). Tenten licks her lips, reaches out to touch one of the tentacles, her fingers coming away with lukewarm moisture. A tentacle follows her guidance to her knee, and slithers carefully down her thigh. She draws a sharp breath.

It had taken Tenten a full year to work up the courage to experiment with this alien plant (Ino said it was nonlethal), and another year for her to be fully comfortable with sneaking into the lab at night - because this is straightforward, better than having a bedfellow who could could hurt her, and is more present than someone who cannot match her schedules.

Who needs a friend with benefits, when this satisfies her just as completely?

Tenten watches with baited breath as the blunt tip of the tentacle brushes over her thatch of hair, and explores further down, rubbing into her sensitive flesh. She bites down a moan, gasps. The tentacle pushes against her - she angles herself towards it - and it finds her entrance, pressing in.

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><p>Neji strolls along the corridors, familiarizing himself with the <em>Konoha<em>'s layout all over again. Two years isn't really a long time to be gone, and he remembers the locations vividly, each walkway imprinted into his mind.

A sign on the wall reads "Alien Labs", with an arrow, and he pauses at the intersection of passageways, thinking. It wouldn't hurt to see if the samples he'd helped Hinata with are doing well - the trouble undergone to bring them back have certainly made an impression in his memories, and Neji would not like to have to repeat the procedures again if possible.

There is time to spare tonight (the hours he'd kept at the Orion cluster are a little later than the norm on the _Konoha_), so Neji makes up his mind, and heads down the corridor.

He pauses before the steel door of Lab IV, dipping his head to do an iris scan, and the access light blinks green. The steel door slides open with a quiet hiss. Neji strides into the orange-cast dimness, his eyes adjusting to the clutter of samples-

And a moan breaks the silence, a little way into the lab.

He frowns; his fingers creep to his gun holster on reflex. There isn't supposed to be anyone here at these hours. Neji steps further into the lab, scanning over various tables and shelves- And he stops short when he spots a figure already in the room, by the _tentacula phytum_, one of the samples he's come to check up on.

The figure shifts its head towards the light, and it's a heartbeat before he places her as Tenten, of Dragon Platoon. He'd recognize those twin buns anywhere.

Neji's gaze shifts, and he realizes that she's sitting on the floor, with her pants off, legs spread, a couple of glistening alien appendages probing between her thighs.

He mutters a curse of disbelief, and her attention flies to him immediately. Tenten is crouching on the floor in an instant, her pistol drawn and pointed at him, tentacles falling away.

"What the fuck?" she snaps, hazel eyes flashing, even as crimson surges through her face (and her expletive is, ironically, the very same that gained her notice).

He stares at her for a long moment, speechless (because he's never expected this of her, or even for the alien sample to be used this way), and finally questions, with a hint of sarcasm, "Tentacles, Lieutenant?"

Tenten glares at him. Her aim is unwavering. "This is none of your business," she tells him acidly.

Neji raises an eyebrow, surprised that she's risked all manner of protocol to do this. How much of a coincidence is it that he's decided to walk in here tonight? "There are security cameras," he mentions offhandedly.

She looks at him like he's an idiot. Neji blinks, and looks around at the black half-orbs on the ceiling, finding them frozen over. He's quietly impressed, but chooses not to mention it. The wisps of an idea form in his mind, delighting him with its cleverness.

"Nevertheless, this is a breach of policy," he informs her. "And I have evidence."

He reaches up to push a button by his ear, to capture an image of what he sees - and another, a zoomed-in image of just Tenten and the _tentacula_.

She curses again. "What do you want in exchange... Lieutenant?" Tenten growls, and he catches the way she fingers the trigger, dripping with desire to knock him unconscious, or dead.

A range of possibilities come to mind. He's surprised that her first reaction is to offer a trade for these pictures, and stalls by taking a closer look at her, at the standard-issue belt that slants attractively across her hip, and her bare thighs, that lead up to the shadowy, fuzzy juncture of her legs. There's a faint stirring in his middle; his thoughts dip into the gutter, and Neji swallows, suddenly knowing what he does want from her.

"I'll keep you informed," he intones, and turns to leave, before his body even thinks to betray him. Tenten looks as though she's contemplating planting bullets into his back the moment he turns away, so he adds, "Don't forget, murdering me will get you fired quicker than this."

The intensity of her glare doubles, and Neji knows that he's found her vulnerability.

"I'll get you back for this," she snarls, and he smirks, walking away.

"Good luck with that," he replies, saluting with a casual wave. Had it been anyone else in the lab tonight, he would have ignored them - but this is not the first time that Tenten has roused his interest, and Neji is quietly glad that fate has made them cross paths like this.

The doors slide shut between them.

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><p><em>AN: This is exactly the kind of fic that makes one rub one's hands and cackle in glee. ;) Thoughts? Comments? Was it worth the wait? ;)_


	3. 2: Trainees

_Update time! Decided to update sooner than later 'cause apparently people have been leaving comments ;)_

_Naruto and its characters don't belong to me. **Please be forewarned that this fic is rated M for various possibly-controversial things** (swearing is going to be the least of your worries)**.**_

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><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Chapter 2: Trainees**

_Konoha, Nov 19, 2030, 0800 hrs_

The introduction to Tenten's new team is about as welcome as a kick to her side.

She schools her features into an amiable expression, and steps into the small simulation room, with high ceilings and steel walls, where they await her with some measure of excitement. Two kids leap to their feet; the third is already standing, and he bounces forward to meet her.

"I am Lieutenant Tenten," she informs them, heavy boots thumping on the simulation room floor. "And I will be your instructor for the foreseeable future."

They are a rag-tag bunch; the first, a bright-eyed boy, brown-haired, cheeks flushed with anticipation. The second is a beaming girl, auburn hair styled to stand straight in the air, like two rabbit ears, and the third is a bespectacled boy, who is trying vainly to sniff dangling snot back into his nose.

Tenten winces. Is she ever going to win a face-off against Neji with this bunch of kids?

Her stomach twists sharply at the thought of Neji.

There has been no word from him since last night, and Tenten shivers to think about the information he's got on her. She hasn't slept very much at all; the strain of fatigue lingers at the edges of her mind. Damn that asshole. Having trained with Neji and worked with him on a number of missions, however, Tenten instinctively knows that he is not the sort to release information like hers on a whim - her secret is safe with him for as long as he doesn't find reason to use it to his advantage.

Which could take anywhere between a few hours and years.

The bite of her nails into her palms drags her thoughts back to the present, and she barks, a little more harshly than she intends, at the kids, "Names?"

"Konohamaru," says the excited boy.

The girl raises her hand. "I'm Moegi."

"Udon," the sniffling kid mutters. He finally manages to recall his pendulous snot back into his nose, and Tenten grimaces.

Well, at least trying to teach these kids something would be a better pastime than avoiding Neji, who will be on the _Konoha_ anyway, and in closer proximity to her than she really wants.

With a heavy sigh, Tenten sizes her pupils up, and begins to unearth the horrors of just how much these kids don't know. "What have you been taught so far?"

* * *

><p><em>Konoha, Dec 5, 2030, 1149 hrs<em>

One painful day of teaching turns to two, and three, and it is two weeks of nonstop drilling on physical fitness, strategy and weapon-handling before the first round of tests begin. Tenten has not allowed her team an entire day of rest through this period - she cannot lose to Neji, absolutely not, and her skin crawls whenever she passes him in the hallways, chin lifted in defiance.

He smirks every single time.

She's gone to Gai for help with the kids, and his only advice is to train them, harder and harder each time. That method has worked with her, Neji and Lee, and Tenten follows it, knows that two weeks is too soon to really bring about a change in their performance. It is little mercy that they're able to handle the harmless simulation room guns now, that they know the basics of moving on a field, of dodging behind walls and firing when under cover.

And it is still not enough, when the electronic draw pits them against the little fighting machines that make up Neji's team.

Tenten is all but pulling the hair from her twin buns as she watches the kids on the screen outside the simulation room. The rules she's taught them, to keep their calm, their cover, to handle their weapons with care, all get shot to hell when Konohamaru dashes into the simulated forest clearing and yells for Neji's kids to come out of hiding.

She winces, drags her hand over her face. It's like watching a younger, hot-headed Lee blow his cover and throw caution to the wind, and Moegi barely tackles Konohamaru to the ground to avoid one of Neji's kids, who's somehow riding on a vine and swinging towards them with a powerful kick. Udon is hiding out somewhere - at this point, Tenten doesn't know what she can do with his lack of skill and drive (perhaps threaten him, like how Shikamaru, the resident strategist, had to be shaken up before he took it upon himself to see to the safety of his comrades).

Regardless, the opposing team is racking up points rapidly, when Neji's other trainees fire at Moegi and Konohamaru from the shadowy undergrowth. Tenten winces and watches as they return fire, determination on their faces (at least they have that going for them). Udon shows up in the last twenty seconds of the fight, missing his glasses, and aims his gun at Neji's trainees. They dodge behind Konohamaru, and Udon accidentally fires upon his own teammates, bringing the victory to Neji's team with a resounding finality.

Tenten backs into the metal wall of the corridor, and covers her face with her hands. She doesn't have the pride to face Neji down like that, not when these twits have just handed her ass to the Hyuuga on a platter.

The metal doors slide open, and her trainees trudge miserably out.

"What were you thinking?" she growls at them in exasperation. "All of you! Don't you remember what I've taught you in the past two weeks?"

And they were doing decently in the simulation room by themselves, too.

"I've never lost to Hyuuga this badly before!" she hisses at them, embarrassment heating her cheeks. The trio have the grace to look sheepish. "_6-44?_ Really, kids?"

She's going to be the laughingstock among the Lieutenants. Tenten is sure of it. She grits her teeth. What is she going to do with them? When is this damn training scheme going to end?

Moegi looks as if she's on the verge of tears. Tenten has barely any time to acknowledge the expression on her face, when footsteps round the corner, and she comes face-to-face with Neji's team.

_Oh, hell._

Tenten swallows. If some higher entity has something against her, it sure isn't done yet.

Neji and his trainees stop a few feet away, and Tenten cringes inwardly when his pale eyes sweep over her motley gang, before landing on her. The corner of his lips quirks.

"That was an enlightening exercise," Neji drawls. His gaze coasts down her chest, all the way to the toes, and back up just as slowly. She gulps. Fury simmers in her gut. "Perhaps you need better sets of genes to begin with."

Tenten realizes, with a start, that Neji has both an Uchiha and a Hyuuga on his team. _Two_ offspring from genius, military clans. What the fuck?

Her gaze snaps back to Neji's, and he's looking smugly at her.

"That was not a fair fight, Hyuuga," she seethes, her fingers itching to grab her pistol. She could put a hole through his head this instant. "Your trainees have military backgrounds."

He raises an eyebrow. "All the more reason to put more hard work in - am I right, _Lieutenant_?" Neji asks, smirking, and she knows he's talking about her and Lee, who have climbed their way through the ranks, tooth and nail. He dips his chin to survey her trainees. "Or perhaps your mentor doesn't have the... discipline to focus on training, when her attentions lie elsewhere."

White-hot rage sears through her veins. Tenten is pretty certain that her face is purple, because she's struggling to contain her emotions at this point. How dare he insult her _and _the kids? "Say that again, Hyuuga," she mutters, her fists clenched tight. No way is he bringing up the events from the lab here, in front of everyone. "I dare you to."

"I don't have to. You heard me the first time." His smirk grows. Neji lifts his brow in amusement, and gives a curt nod. "We'll meet again. Let's hope your students show more promise by then."

Tenten gives in to her anger and flips him off when Neji's entire group moves past them, down the hallway. Konohamaru steps forward, fists clenched, anger in his innocent eyes.

"I'll make him pay for that!" he growls, and Tenten would have laughed, if they were in a different situation, on a different day.

Her hands tighten at her sides. She's going to get back at Neji for this later, along with the pictures he took and probably never erased.

* * *

><p>Tenten hammers on the steel door hours later, after she's given her trainees a earful of a lecture and got them running a hundred laps. They will be training every day after this, if just so she can wipe the smirk off Neji's face - even Udon has agreed to drop his cowardice. Whether they make good on their promise will be an issue for another day; for now, she's going to hand Neji his ass, and he'd do well to be prepared for it.<p>

The steel door slides open without so much as a pause, and Tenten strides into Neji's quarters, snarling the moment the door seals her into his room, "You arrogant sonofabitch!"

His quarters are similar to hers - steel-walled, with a couple of couches right by the door, and a desk just beyond them. His bed and closet are in a far corner, with no personal artifacts to personalize his space, save for some thick books in a bookcase, but Tenten really can't care less about any of it at this point. She's striding up to where he's seated behind his desk, its glossy surface cleared of clutter, and Neji looks up at her expectantly, amusement flitting across his face.

Tenten stops right at the edge of the desk and leans over, grabbing the collar of his uniform. She jerks him forward, hauling him so close that she sees the deep purple flecks in his irises, and anger roils in her stomach. "You didn't have to shame my cell like that, it was just their fifth simulation!" she shouts in his face.

Neji lifts his brows, decidedly unaffected by her closeness or threat. "So?" he returns evenly. "This is the military, if you aren't aware of it yet."

His gaze dips to her mouth, and she shakes him, to return his attention to her eyes. Tenten glares. She throws him back into his seat with a frustrated sigh. Doesn't she know it. "They're still kids, Hyuuga. Not everyone is a prodigy like you are."

"So?" he asks, softly, and as she watches, he stands and walks around the desk, stepping so close that she backs away on instinct - and he doesn't stop, not until she's a foot away from the wall and sidestepping to avoid being trapped. Neji reaches out and grabs her; at the same time, Tenten unsheathes her dagger, pressing its glinting edge to his throat. "Your reflexes haven't dulled, I see."

"Destroy those pictures," she mutters, her eyes boring into his. Because, more than the kids, the unease in her belly stems from the fact that Neji has a distinct influence over her, that slips control on her life out of her fingers. Tenten increases the pressure on her knife, indenting his skin with the blade. She would have confronted him sooner, but she wasn't going to put herself at risk, not knowing what he'd see as a trigger to release those pictures. But there's no way she's letting him live down offending her in front of those kids.

"Why should I?" Neji whispers in return, and before either of them draws a breath, he has her pinned against the wall with a solid _thump_-

"Damn prick," she hisses, her cheek bumping hard against the cool metal. Tenten turns to glare at him from the corner of her eye, hating that he has the advantage of strength over her. Her heart pounds in her ribs. The Neji she knew wouldn't have resorted to blackmail for anything - or would he? It's a question she hasn't been able to figure out the answer to.

Neji smirks, presses her wrists into the small of her back. The next thing she knows, his fingers are teasing the dagger out of her grip. "Can't have injuries happening now, can we?" he murmurs, before leaning in and tracing his lips over the shell of her ear.

Tenten stiffens. He proceeds to remove the guns holstered at her hips. She hisses, "What're you-"

"I'm disarming you," he tells her, simply, and slides his free arm around her chest. "That includes frisking you for hidden weapons."

She swears at him, and struggles, tugging hard on her hands so his grip almost slips. Neji curses and presses her bodily to the wall, his chest snug against her back. He eases his arm from between her and the wall. Warm lips trail down her neck, and his tongue flicks against her skin. She gasps. The anger that has burned so vividly in her gut is slowly seeping away, and Tenten curses her body for responding to him.

"We still have an exchange, if you recall," Neji says quietly into her neck.

Tenten stills. "You want sex?" she asks, incredulous, awkwardly watching him from the corner of her eye. He slides his fingers between her legs.

"No weapons here either," he murmurs, as if he hasn't heard her, and his hand lingers for longer than protocol allows. "I'm a little disappointed."

He presses his fingers right against where she's most sensitive, and a groan escapes her lips at his touch, right before she raises her foot and stomps hard on his toes.

Neji swears in surprise - Tenten tears herself away and whirls around to face him, her cheeks burning. "Damn you," she hisses, "I thought you were above that, Lieutenant."

He blinks. "I was," he admits reluctantly, and Tenten scoffs.

"Tell me the price of the exchange, and I'll do it," she grits, her lips curled in disdain. Tenten crouches to retrieve her weapons. "You can't be that deprived of sex. I can't imagine that you would."

"Try me," Neji challenges, and Tenten pauses in shock. She turns to look up at him. With his looks and figure, really?

Well, if he wants sex, now would be a good time for it, because she's stripped of her weapons anyway, Tenten reasons. She is most definitely not thinking about his hard body against hers.

Oh, who is she kidding?

As much of a jerk as he is, Tenten doesn't doubt that sex with him would be good. His touch has told her more than enough. "Right now?" she asks, dubiously.

"I don't see why not," he replies, and Tenten swallows dryly at the way his gaze sweeps over her, the way there's a distinct bulge in his pants. She glances at the door, and he keys a code into his earpiece. "The door is locked."

He's watching her when she tugs the zip down her front, peeling the uniform off in one piece. Neji's lips part, as if he were about to say something, but she ignores him, kicking her shoes off and shrugging out of her bra. His pale eyes rove over her - Tenten feels her nipples harden beneath his gaze, and glares again at him, looking pointedly at his clothes. The rasp of his zipper is harsh in the air.

Tenten is so ready to aim a snipe at his masculinity, that she's momentarily at a loss for words when he jerks his suit off, and the thick length at his groin springs up. He is by no means small (a little thicker than the tentacles have been, in fact), and she gulps.

Neji smirks. "Not too big for you, is it?"

"I'm making no such statement," she bristles, shoving him roughly backwards, to the couch, until his calves hit the furniture, and he sinks down, naked and watching her. She peels her panties off; he eyes the damp patch on the crotch of the material, smirks.

"Don't you dare say a word," she growls, stealing a glance at his flesh. The sight of him is enough to make her grow moister, but all she does is point at the couch. "Lie back."

Neji lifts an eyebrow, amused, and follows her orders, stretching out before her. Her breaths come more shallowly now; Tenten realizes that she's so very ready for him, and tries to glare, wetting him with her saliva. She passes a hand over his skin to distribute that lubrication, and shivers at how hard he is in her palm. Her heart pounds.

Tenten straddles his hips; his entry is so pleasurable that a moan slips from her throat before she knows it. Neji groans, smirks at her. And the arrogance falls from his countenance the instant she begins to move, riding him hard. It's been a long while since she's had a man in her - and Neji is hitting all the right spots. She doesn't think, only feels, and he grits, "I'm touched that you're expending all this energy on me."

She snarls, her flesh singing around him, growling between deep thrusts, "I'm - doing - this - for - me!"

He doesn't say any more; she doesn't count the minutes - doesn't think to count them - and it doesn't take her long to approach the edge, when she reaches down to touch her swollen flesh. Neji spills deep into her soon after.

It is silent, save for her quickened breathing, when she pulls away from him and gets dressed, tugging her clothes back onto herself. She can stand to be without his presence right now, thank you very much.

"Are you on the pill?" Neji asks, abruptly, as he sits up, and Tenten rolls her eyes, shoving her weapons back on.

"For a genius, you can be a little dim sometimes, Hyuuga," she tells him, and leaves his quarters without so much as a goodnight kiss.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And that's just the start of it. ;) Is this anything like what you expected? _

_Neji and Tenten crack me up so much. I haven't explicitly mentioned it, but this fic is an amalgam of romance/erotica/humor/sci-fi and some bits of strategy here and there. I drew on Ender's Game as inspiration for the simulations. ;)  
><em>

_Also, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays - drop a review, let's all be generous, shall we? ;)_


	4. 3: Sex, Relationships, and Physicals

_Thank you for all the wonderful comments on the previous chapter! I wasn't expecting such a positive response. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. _

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><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Chapter 3: Sex, Relationships, and Physicals**

_Konoha, Dec 6, 2030, 1138 hrs_

"What's up, Ino?" Tenten greets, setting her lunch tray across from the platinum blond.

Yamanaka Ino glances up from the holographic screen of her computer with a cheery smile, tucking long, straight locks behind a ear. At the sight of Tenten, she powers the device down and sets it to a side. "Hey, Ten!"

Tenten seats herself, watching as Ino digs into her tuna salad with relish. "Still on a diet?" she teases, inwardly wincing at the sheer amount of greens on the latter's plate.

The cafeteria is not quite busy yet just before the Lieutenants' official lunch hour; the serving stations are mostly without queues, with lone rangers or small groups scattered around the numerous long tables. Old posters and notices are pasted along the far walls of the canteen, and fluorescent lights shine down on them from high ceilings.

Tenten prefers the quiet of the cafeteria at this hour, and it's far from the first time that she's met up with Ino here. Like her, Ino enjoys the relative peace, and often brings her lab reports along on her meal breaks.

"Hey, I need to keep my figure, Lieutenant I'm-Celibate-Forever," Ino quips, pretending to be offended. She puffs her chest up, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder.

Tenten narrows her eyes, scans Ino's body (the one thing of Ino's that she's envious of is the blond's perfect figure, that her standard-issue uniform and lab coat fail to hide). "I'm sure you can stand to eat more than that once in a while, Ino," she remarks dryly, "Go to the gym or something in between all your research."

Ino smirks and leans in with a conspiratorial whisper, "At least it gets me laid."

Tenten sends her gaze heavenwards. Unlike herself, Ino prefers to flaunt her looks and bedroom appetite, resulting in an endless line of interested men (and sometimes women) that she can afford to pick from. In spite of that, or perhaps because of it, Ino is also one of the major grapevines of gossip on board the _Konoha_.

"How many notches do you have on your belt now?" Tenten asks, mildly curious. (She's got about three or so herself, including Neji.)

Ino purses her lips and frowns. "Oh, I don't know... about fifty percent of the male Lieuts and Second Lieuts, and a Captain or two..." She trails off, lost in thought. A moment later, a sly smile creeps up her lips. "Kakashi was pretty good."

Tenten gapes at her. "_The_ Captain Kakashi?" she whispers, food forgotten. Hatake Kakashi is known to be one of the most elusive and romantically unavailable males on the ship. "Which of the Lieutenants _haven't_ you laid yet?"

The look on Ino's face turns contemplative. "A few... Some were recently promoted, and then there are people like Shino-"

"Too creepy?" Tenten teases.

Ino glances around nervously. "Don't say that out loud," she hisses. "I don't want to offend him." Tenten nods in understanding, and Ino continues, "Not Shika or Chouji, since we grew up together-"

The blond falls silent abruptly, her sky-blue eyes anchored onto something over Tenten's shoulder. Tenten turns to look.

Her heart fairly stops when she spies one Lieutenant Neji walking towards them. She recognizes those lilac eyes and long ebony hair, that pale skin. Still remembers what he looked like, naked beneath her on the couch.

He smirks at her (not Ino), and changes his course towards the serving stations instead. Unbidden, the memory of his skin against hers rises to the back of her mind. She sees his bare chest, rising and falling, can almost feel the way he pushed deep in her-

Ino kicks her under the table.

"Earth to Tenten!" Ino whispers, and Tenten gives a start, mightily glad that her cheeks are still cool. "Still haven't got over your first dramatic loss on the simulations this year, huh?" Ino asks, craftily. "I think he's into you."

"He is not!" Tenten protests (never mind what happened last night), and Ino's first remark registers in her mind. It's much less embarrassing to have her kids' shockingly miserable simulation results revealed, than for Ino to know that she's actually slept with Neji. "Wait, how'd you know my trainees lost to his?"

"I know all the gossip, Ten. News like that travels fast." Ino rolls her eyes, steering the conversation in a different direction, "Don't you think he's hot?"

"Him?" Tenten echos, and finally remembers to get started on her lunch. She shoves a couple of lukewarm dumplings into her mouth, chewing. "He's an arrogant asshole."

Ino sighs, propping her chin on her hand. It doesn't take a genius to know who she's looking at over Tenten's shoulder. "He's one of the few I haven't managed to bed yet," she reveals.

Tenten chokes on her dumplings.

"Are you all right?" Ino looks back at her in concern, and Tenten doesn't know whether she should be glad that red faces are easily attributed to choking.

"I'm fine," she sputters, coughing violently, tears gathering in her eyes. She's very aware that some have turned to watch her in the canteen (and hopefully none of those are pale lilac). "It's just a dumpling," Tenten eventually gasps, breathing a sigh of relief when Ino lets the subject go.

With any luck, the sex last night would be enough to satisfy Neji, and he'll delete those pictures from his system. She'd realized too late, after stepping out of his quarters, that she should have demanded he erase her pictures the moment they were done. Damn her impulse to get as far away from him as she could. And damn her pride for preventing her from hammering on his door when she remembered the photos.

"The physicals are this week, aren't they?" Ino asks suddenly.

"Yeah, why?" Tenten gulps a mouthful of water down to clear her throat, and returns to her lunch. The back of her neck prickles. Neji is probably watching them, damn it.

"Well, you might get to face off against Neji," the blond suggests with a foxy grin. Tenten looks at her in horror.

"Oh gods, no," she mutters, wincing. The physical evaluations are conducted once every three months, to test their performances, and the one-on-one combat segment is highly anticipated among the Lieutenants, mostly for the prestige that comes with winning the most simulation rounds. Tenten isn't surprised that they're still being held even though the scheme with the kids is still ongoing - it's a requirement for all the combat personnel on board the ship.

"Do you have something against him?" Ino asks in surprise, slender brows lifting. She looks between Tenten and the same point over her shoulder, and Tenten suppresses a shudder. Even the idea that Neji is sitting in her blind spot sends a shiver up her spine.

"He's a jerk." Tenten narrows her eyes, and leaves her explanation at that. "Why don't you try just settling down with one guy, anyway?"

Ino's full lips tighten. "We've had this conversation, Ten. No relationships for me."

"Then we're on the same page about relationships, aren't we?" She grins, nudging Ino's foot with hers. "Quit it with that I'm-Celibate-Forever crap."

"But you are!" Ino grins, and kicks her in return. "When was the last time you had sex, huh?"

_Last night._ Tenten purses her lips and glares at her friend, unwilling to divulge anything - not the tentacles, and certainly not Neji. Even if Ino was the one to get her the access to the labs in the first place.

"Never thought I'd see you mothering kids," Ino smirks when she doesn't respond.

Tenten scowls. "I'm not mothering them! 'Training' would be a better word, as you well know."

The blond chuckles, and Tenten narrows her eyes. "How much progress are you making on the trainees? I can't see you having enough patience to deal with twelve-year-olds - gosh, do you remember when we were that age?"

She remembers, clearly, the bunch of them when they first met ten years ago; Ino, with her little childhood friends, Lee, with his awful haircut, and Neji, the most aloof she's ever seen him. "They're not improving quickly enough," Tenten summarizes, "I've been making them work on cardio and physical training. Hyuuga has an Uchiha and a Hyuuga on his team."

"What? No way!" Ino exclaims, jaw dropping. "_Two_ kids from the military clans? No wonder your kids lost to his."

Tenten doesn't know if she should be offended at that. "Well, I'm training them as best as I know how," she tells Ino dryly. It's still too soon to see how successful her stricter regimes are with the kids. Konohamaru is still as excitable as ever, Moegi is faring better than Tenten thought she would, and Udon drags his feet through the motions, as if he would rather be someplace far away.

"Anyway, I need to return to the alien labs," Ino says, polishing off the last of her salad. She grabs her portable computer and picks her tray up. "Have fun with your kids and the physicals - I'm sure you wouldn't mind having Lieutenant Neji pound you into the dust."

"Damn you, Ino," Tenten growls.

Ino winks, and Tenten stares sullenly after her, red-faced and unable to move from her seat. No way is she coming into contact with him any more than necessary, and no way is she allowing any pounding to happen between them, for combat purposes or otherwise.

Across the canteen, Hyuuga Neji watches, and smirks in mild amusement as he turns the volume of his amplifier down.

* * *

><p><em>Konoha, Dec 8, 2030, 0925 hrs<em>

Tenten bounces on her heels and does a few last-minute stretches, inwardly checking to see that all her muscles and limbs are functioning well. It's a nice break from having to deal with her trainees.

The preparation chamber adjacent to the simulation room is tiny, with plain metal sheets on the surface of the walls, though it is large enough for her to get warmed up before the upcoming physical. She's completed fifteen of the required twenty, and won ten fights out of those. Who she hasn't fought, though... There are a handful of possible selections, each tougher than those she's been up against before.

The flat panel next to the door flashes yellow, and Tenten stills, waiting for it to display the name of her opponent. Her skin prickles a little from the electronic sensor chemicals sprayed onto her (to detect laser shots she sustains during the simulation). The translucent, emerald visor over her eye is giving her a hundred percent on all her vitals, and she toggles the view to that of her body, to display where she's taken critical shots.

_Hyuuga Neji,_ reads the panel, and Tenten rolls her eyes. Great. The one person she does not look forward to meeting. Guess Ino's speculation came true, after all.

She draws a deep breath, and folds their recent interactions away in her mind, leaving only crucial information about him: great strategist, swift, excellent hand-to-hand combat, and not so great with long-range fighting.

In short, take him down before he gets too close, or has had enough time to plan something against her.

Tenten grabs the randomly-issued laser gun that slides into the open tray by the door, and inspects it casually - middle-tier firepower, decent speed; not that bad, but not great either. _Take what you can get,_ she thinks, and flicks its switches on, appreciating the quiet vibrations emanating from it as it comes to life.

She steps into the yellow square right at the door, and looks ahead, body tensed as the countdown begins.

* * *

><p>Neji hurls himself to the side of the simulation room the instant the door hisses open (yellow sand and blue sky is all he sees, with a scattering of boulders and scrawny trees); mild pricks of heat are already burrowing into his skin, testimony to the marksman Tenten is. He's expected her to go on the offense immediately and fires a few rounds back at her figure to stave the attacks off.<p>

She dodges by dropping to the ground and rolling away, and Neji takes the chance to scan their surroundings. The simulation room has recreated the desert landscape of one of the nearby planets, with its thick air and strong gravitational pull, and he notes the rocks that will provide some reprieve from her shots.

There is another prickle of heat on his skin. Neji barely registers how the translucent scoreboard on his visor updates itself to "_Neji: 0 - Tenten: 10_", as he drops behind a large boulder, barely avoiding more hits.

40 points left between them before the simulation ends.

He counts to three, and eases out from behind the boulder, just barely, matching her previous position to her current one; he fires shots at her, forcing her to dodge, and is satisfied when the score climbs to a _2-10_. His heart is thudding in his chest, pumped with adrenaline, and he's visualizing the field in his mind; the luck of the draw has given him a gun with a grappling hook this time, something that could either make him a sitting duck for Tenten's shots, or work excellently in his favor.

It takes him all of moments to devise a handful of strategies, and when he dashes out from behind the boulder, Tenten is firing at him again. Neji returns the shots, just enough to make her pause, and heads, with darts and rolls, towards a part of the field where the boulders are taller than either of them, positioned closely and with such straight sides that they almost resemble an open maze.

More shots scatter across his torso, in non-vital places, and he's careful to draw her right to the edge of the rock cluster; Tenten hovers at the circumference, wary of entering, so Neji teases her in with glimpses of himself that she sees but isn't able to strike.

_Neji: 3 - Tenten: 19_

He decides that he's got her right where he wants when she's in the cluster too deeply to escape, in a spot where the rocks diverge enough that there's space for two abreast between them. A sweeping kick sends sand flying across one rock corridor, and effectively anchors her attention there; she flattens herself at the end of the passage, and Neji seizes this opportunity to fire his grappling hook at the top of the boulder he's shielding himself with. He tugs on the hook to test its stability and finds it satisfactory.

With a flick of the reel switch, Neji finds himself running up the side of the boulder, holding tightly on to his weapon as it propels him forward. He drops to a crouch the moment he reaches the top, and sets his gun down quietly - there is no longer a need for it.

Tenten is looking sharply about her when he chances a peek from right above, and the moment she removes her back from solid rock is the moment Neji chooses to barrel down upon her-

His inertia knocks both of them to the ground with a solid _whump_.

Neji is the first to recover from the fall as dust settles back onto the ground; Tenten coughs, winded from his attack, and he lifts himself off her form slightly, taking the chance to capture her wrists. Her gun is the next to go, after he's eased it out from beneath her, and it is then that Tenten begins to regain her mobility, when she bucks under him, a dusty, writhing mass of sinewy muscle.

_Neji: 23 - Tenten: 19_

"Having some fun now, are we?" he murmurs in her ear, and she writhes against him, tugging uselessly at her wrists.

"Get away from me," she grits, and Neji is intrigued to find that her tone is controlled, without the anger that's been radiating from her recently, whenever he's around.

"Do you yield?" he asks softly, applying a little pressure on her wrists, just enough to get his point across. "Or would you like me to, ah, torment you first?"

"This is business, Hyuuga," is Tenten's even reply, and she angles her head back, to scan for an opening. There is only deadly calm in her hazel eyes, and he is impressed by her ability to compartmentalize. "Are you going to finish me, or not?"

"Soon," he responds, and dips his chin, sinking his teeth into the nape of her neck. Tenten stiffens beneath him, sinew and muscle turned to wood.

He flicks his tongue across her skin, tasting sweat and the acrid bite of chemical, and she falls limp beneath him suddenly-

Neji makes the mistake of loosening his grip on her wrists, and only realizes it when her hand flies out from beneath him, grabbing at where he's left her gun beside them. With a muttered curse, he snatches at it, just barely, so her fingers close on empty air, and presses its barrel to her neck.

Tenten gives a throaty, harsh laugh. "Took you long enough, Lieutenant," she mutters, "I yield."

At her words, the translucent screen over his eye flashes their new score (_Neji: 31 - Tenten: 19_). And as Neji releases both the weapon and his opponent, and the simulation dissolves into metal walls and floors, the distinct feeling that Tenten has won the exchange between them gnaws at him, despite the way the vivid green score burns itself into his vision.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Ino is one of my favorite characters in this fic. ;)  
><em>

_Fun fact: I'm currently writing Chapter 19 of Blackmail - 66,000 words and counting. ;) Total NejiTen count for 2014 is 245,000 words.. Aiming to hit 250k before the year ends. ;)_

_Happy New Year, everyone! May 2015 bring you lots of joyous news. (And NejiTen.) Look out for my Nejiko-Ten-Neji fic - it'll be posted this Friday. 3 parts. ;)_


	5. 4: Encounters in Gyms and Dreams

_Update time! Thank you so much for all the reviews - I'm so surprised by the continuous positive responses so far. :P_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. **As always, this fic is for mature audiences only. Read at your own discretion. **_

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><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Chapter 4: Encounters in Gyms and Dreams**

_Konoha, Dec 9, 2030, 0635 hrs_

"Oh youthful lotus, how are you doing today?" Lee yells from across the gym in his forest-green jumpsuit the moment she steps in, leaping into the air and waving at her.

Tenten winces at his exuberant greeting as she weaves her way through numerous fitness machines, pointedly ignoring the stares from various directions. "Will you quit it with the lotus thing already," she hisses at Lee when she draws close to him, giving him a light punch on the arm. "My name is Tenten, and the whole gym doesn't need to listen in on our conversation!"

"But we all need a reminder about the beautiful green Earth we're fighting for!" Lee protests, and returns to his bench to continue the hundreds of sit-ups he must have been in the middle of. "Don't you agree?"

"Your quarters are painted green enough to compensate for the rest of the ship, Lee," Tenten sighs, and seats herself on the bench next to his. "Besides, not all of us are fighting for Earth. Some of us are in the military just to be alongside our friends."

Lee harrumphs. The following minutes comprise of them doing their sit-ups in companionable silence, and Tenten remembers the lengthy lectures by Captain Gai that have influenced him so. (Lee is in such awe of their previous mentor that he has even adopted the latter's bowl cut and vivid green attires, much to Tenten's disgust.)

"Oh! I heard that you were in another simulation yesterday," Lee pipes up as they attain their targets and head over to the treadmills out of habit. It seems as if most of the time she spends with Lee is in the gym, outside of regular missions. "How did it go?"

"Fine," Tenten grouses, a little furrow etching itself into her forehead when memories of that fight surface in her mind. "Faced off with Hyuuga."

"Neji?" Lee asks in surprise as they begin to jog. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"That's a good thing, trust me," Tenten grits. Of all things, he dared to bite her neck - and during a recorded simulation, no less! Suddenly thankful that Lee has absolutely no idea how complicated her dealings with Neji have become, she relaxes, and punches buttons on her treadmill to increase its pace. He may be her best friend, but Lee does not need to know about Neji walking in on her in one of the alien labs, nor that he's taken incriminating pictures of her, and even less, that she's fucked him in exchange for that evidence. It is blackmail - not that she wants any of it.

"You got along pretty well with him in our trainee group, though," Lee mentions casually, and Tenten flings a glare at him.

"Don't bring that up," she threatens, narrowing her eyes. She has no wish to return to memories of those days, when the three of them were on the same team.

"Why? You haven't been this angry with him before, Tenten," Lee frowns, his bushy black eyebrows drawing together. "Did something happen?"

"No," she snaps, a little too quickly, and fixes her gaze on the complex controls of her treadmill. "I just never... got over the fact that he left us and graduated ahead, I guess."

"You were the only girl he could tolerate though," Lee suggests, with a waggle of his eyebrows, and his teeth flash in a blinding smile. "He really only acknowledged you, too."

"Right," Tenten mutters, disliking the fact that Lee is reminding her of all the other characteristics Neji has possessed at some point. Before he left, returned, and pulled the whole arrogant-prick-of-a-blackmailer stunt on her. What crawled up his ass?

"I mean, maybe he likes you," Lee suggests, and it is all Tenten can do to keep herself from tripping and falling flat onto her treadmill.

"I'm your Lieutenant, Rock Lee, don't make me kick you out of Dragon Platoon," she sputters, and glares at him so hard that she thinks her eyeballs may well pop from their sockets.

"Hey, you never know," Lee grins and shrugs, "He tolerated you better than he did me-"

"That's because you and Gai kept going on about all that youth and springtime crap," Tenten retorts, though she has the decency to feel a little contrite when Lee flinches, hurt. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way-"

Their conversation comes to an abrupt halt when the door to the gym slides open, and the too-familiar figure of Hyuuga Neji steps in, with a towel draped across his shoulders.

"Ugh, not again," Tenten groans, and snaps her head in the other direction, grimacing. "Did I murder babies in my past life?"

Lee glances between them curiously, and Tenten stiffens when he whispers, "He's heading this way."

"Oh fuck," she mutters, feeling as if her insides have turned to ice. Surely he isn't going to mention anything about their-

"Lee," Neji greets with a curt nod as he nears them. She turns to look, against all the alarms her instincts are setting off, and gulps. His gaze sweeps over her form, leaving little tingles in its wake, and Tenten is glad that her tank top and pants are as modest as they are. He meets her eyes finally, and the corner of his lips twitches upwards. "Lieutenant."

"Hyuuga," she returns coolly, with a stiff nod, and glances away- And the sudden visual of Neji prancing around stark naked in the gym, in front of everyone else, pops into her mind with ridiculous ease. Tenten snorts with laughter, and stops short when she realizes that the attentions of both men are on her. "What?" she bites, and wipes the smirk off her face.

"Nothing," Neji replies, with a slight lift of his eyebrows, and strides away, to a bench press two rows ahead of them.

Tenten watches his steady gait, muttering under her breath, "Good riddance."

He proceeds to peel his tank top off, before lying flat on his bench, lifting the iron bar above his head. His biceps flex, relax, and flex again, and she finds her gaze wandering over the smooth skin of his chest, and his lean abdomen-

"Tenten," Lee whispers after a while. "Tenten, you're staring."

She gives a start, and snaps her eyes away from Neji, heat creeping up her neck. "I wasn't," she hisses, and stares at the treadmill controls instead. Having Neji do his routines in front of them is not going to work, no way.

"Yes, you were," Lee responds with a grin. "I totally saw you doing it."

"That's it, we're moving to the ellipticals," she tells him sourly, and hits the buttons to turn her machine off. The tread slows; Tenten adjusts her speed to match, and finally hops off, striding towards the row of machines to the side, that face well away from the rest of the gym.

"Hey, wait up!" Lee jogs over and matches her footsteps, dabbing sweat off his forehead with a leaf-green towel. "There's definitely something going on between you and Neji, Tenten."

"No, there isn't," she says through clenched teeth, and steps onto a machine in the middle of the row. There aren't many disadvantages to Lee knowing her as well as he does, though this is one of them. "He's been snubbing my trainees, okay?"

Lee absorbs the new information with a frown. "I understand."

They spend the next quarter hour or so working up a sweat on the ellipticals, and their conversation meanders through topics of Tenten's trainees (who are slow to improve) and Lee's new fitness records (that he breaks every other month or so), as well as the new cargo shipments from Earth, and the courses the Second Lieutenants have queued up for them. Tenten is midway through giggling at Lee's impression of Captain Gai, when she feels a presence on the machine to her other side, a little too close for comfort when there are ten of the same ellipticals around them. Lee's inky eyes flick to the person behind her, and Tenten turns-

"I didn't realize that you were so... excitable," Neji remarks, and Tenten's grip tightens on the foam-covered handles of her machine. Her heart pounds.

"I didn't realize that you've made stalking a habit of yours," she snarls in return, and he smirks at her, annoyingly.

"You seem to have a problem with me choosing to maintain my fitness levels at this time," he observes, lifting a slender brow.

"Right next to me? Yes," Tenten bristles, though she isn't quite able to avoid looking at his still-bare chest, the way sweat is glistening on his pectorals. And arms. And abs.

"The air happens to be warmer around here," he replies with a casual shrug, though his pale lilac eyes haven't left hers. Tenten gnashes her teeth.

"I challenge you to a simulation, Neji!" Lee interrupts from her other side, and Tenten blinks, ashamed to admit that she'd almost forgotten about him. "My hard work is going to beat your genius, I'm certain of it!"

"You'll never win against me," Neji tells him coolly, and his attention returns to Tenten. She feels a flare of anger roar in her middle.

"Can't you just give Lee a chance to prove himself?" she snaps, glaring at him. The nerve of that jerk! "He's more hardworking than you'll ever be!"

"And which do you prefer?" Neji asks, mockingly, his eyes glinting. Before she's able to respond, he draws a small piece of paper from his pocket - Tenten realizes that it's a picture, its colors too similar to those of Alien Lab IV. Her heart stumbles, and she watches, wide-eyed, as he flicks it towards Lee-

She snatches the photo out of its flight path and curves it towards herself, pulse thudding hard in her throat - and the picture is one of the tentacles, and nothing else.

Neji is watching her with an amused smirk.

"Bastard," she hisses, pointedly ignoring the way Lee is peering over her shoulder. "I didn't think you'd-"

"You shouldn't push her buttons like that, Neji," Lee's voice breaks in sagely, and Tenten feels a little sorry that he has utterly no clue as to what's going on between them. "Tenten doesn't appreciate it."

"Oh, she does," Neji mentions, his eyes boring into hers, and she knows, without a doubt, what he's thinking, "She loves having her buttons pushed."

"Fuck off, sonofabitch!" she sputters, heat prickling all over her face. No one needs to know anything about the intimacy they've shared. "Or I'll punch your guts out!"

"As you wish, Lieutenant," Neji salutes, and steps off from his machine. "I'll be in touch with you."

"Don't hold your breath on it," Tenten mutters. She watches in silence as he exits the gym, before slowly turning back to Lee, who is staring quizzically at her.

"What was all that about?" he asks, and she shakes her head.

"I'll tell you when it's convenient for me to," Tenten promises, though she isn't sure if she'll ever keep her word on this. Missions with Dragon Platoon aren't resuming quickly enough.

* * *

><p>It begins as ordinarily as any dream can begin; Tenten walks along the corridors of the <em>Konoha<em>, cool fluorescent lights illuminating all the nooks and crannies as far as the eye can see. With every step, it feels as if the passageway grows infinitely longer, and she frowns, mildly curious, only knowing that she has to continue forward, one foot at a time.

She feels, more than sees, the presence that appears suddenly behind her. It's not a threatening person, though it isn't a friendly one either, and she turns to look over her shoulder-

"Fancy meeting you in space," Hyuuga Neji remarks, hands tucked behind his back. Tenten is shocked to find that he is completely naked, without even weapons or a earpiece on him. She doesn't have anything to say to him, so he continues, "I'm sure your trainees will beat mine... in the next lifetime."

Tenten glowers at him then. "What are you doing here?" she snaps.

"I am minding my own business," Neji replies mildly, with a smirk.

She rolls her eyes and increases her strides, but Neji matches her pace, with no visible physical exertion. "Go away, Neji."

"You'll have to admit that you missed me," he tells her, annoyingly calm.

Her eyes narrow. "Absence did not make my heart grow fonder," she retorts.

"No," Neji agrees. "It made you grow wetter though."

"Why you-" Tenten scowls and swings a punch at him. He dodges it easily, and touches her shirt, which dissolves upon contact. "What the hell-"

She ignores the way her chest is exposed, her modesty preserved with a bra, and throws a punch at Neji. "Return my clothes!"

"They're not on me," he tells her evenly, shrugging. Neji glances down at his naked form, and Tenten can't help but follow his gaze. He is lean and strong and she remembers only too well-

"You need to dress like the girl you are," she threatens, and to her surprise, a bra identical to hers appears on his chest.

Neji looks down at the new article. He lifts an eyebrow, and merely reaches behind, leaning forward to unclasp it. Somehow, he looks incredibly sexy like that. Tenten goggles at him, and wonders if her mind has broken somewhere along the way.

He turns the bra upside-down, and wears it on his hips instead. Tenten tries not to look at the way the way the cups form an inverted V along his privates, and breathes a sigh when he tugs at the undergarment, so it covers his groin instead.

"You aren't welcome here," she tells him.

"I can do as I please," Neji returns, smug. He reaches over and caresses her midriff with a finger, and she gasps. "You enjoy our... interactions."

"I do not. Get out of my space, Hyuuga." She makes a grab for him, and he steps away, just out of her reach.

"You'll never be able to defeat me, Tenten." Neji casts a superior look at her. "Especially between the sheets."

She gapes at him, and stops walking without meaning to. The nerve of him! "I'm never sleeping with you again, egoistical jerk."

"We'll see about that." Neji steps behind her, faster than she can move, and Tenten feels her body heat when he wraps his arms around her, caressing her thigh.

"Get the hell away from me!" she yells, and twists around in his arms, only to find empty space, as if there were no trace of him just moments prior.

* * *

><p>She purrs in the midst of tentacles, svelte body taut, writhing, slick with moisture.<p>

Neji feels as if he's watching the scene without a physical form - he sees everything, yet feels nothing, save for hot, unyielding desire when the tentacles slither over her body, nudging at her soft breasts and parting her thighs. He wants to be there, between them, feel her slick heat, yet somehow, watching her arch in pleasure, reacting to the tentacles, is reason enough to hold him in place, merely a spectator, his gaze roving over her body.

One of the ties around her twin buns loosens, and Neji looks on as her hair spills from its restraints. A tentacle presses along the cleft between her legs; Tenten cries out, arching her back. Neji feels a throb of want echo within him. He sees clearly the probing appendage that pushes into her, spreading her, and he knows, somehow, the pleasure that brings, imagines himself doing the very same, joining her body with his.

He knows the snug wetness of her body, now, knows how the ridges of her flesh ripple along him, and he wants, all over again, the tightness as she clenches hard around him, her face contorted in a display of pleasure.

.

Neji wakes with a start, tangled amongst damp sheets, and distractingly erect. It takes him a while to regain his bearings, to remember that he isn't in the lab, and that Tenten has not just climaxed on a pile of tentacles right before him.

The fullness between his legs demands attention, however; he reaches for it, closes his eyes and thinks back on that dream-

And the most brilliant of ideas stares right back at him. Already, he sees the warm orange glow of the lab on her skin, the slick, cylindrical appendages of the _tentacula_ slipping over her body, parting her flesh - it will not be too much of a stretch to request a repeat performance, with him as the audience.

Right now, however, the insistent pressure in his flesh nags behind his thoughts. Neji is not so much of a gentleman that he would favor a cold shower in this position; he closes a fist around himself and tugs, thinking about Tenten, her pleasured moans, the tension in her taut body. She'd felt as good as he imagined, and he likes the idea of spilling inside her-

Neji tenses, groans, and falls limp against the sheets, spent. Cleanup isn't the most exciting part of the process, for sure. He casts his gaze around his quarters, spies the one framed image of Team Gai, and smiles to himself. The pictures he's captured of Tenten would look good enlarged and framed, though they aren't quite images he can afford to leave lying around.

His thoughts meander back to Tenten, as the girl he used to know, and Neji finds himself sobering. It's been a long time since they really knew each other; all the information he has on her now are what he can glean from the military database, and his memories.

With a heavy exhale, Neji pushes himself out of bed, and begins the routines to start his day.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And... there's your first proper introduction to Lee. ;) I'm really liking how Blackmail is exploring these characters :P Not your typical fluffy/angsty romance._

_Songs used for plot inspiration (through the entirety of Blackmail) are Nickelback's Someday, Photograph, How You Remind Me, as well as OneRepublic's Counting Stars. _


	6. Off the Records: Discovery

_An interlude... and heavier than the recent chapters have been, I think. To those of you who wondered about Neji's trainee days - bingo. ;) A huge thank you to all who have stayed on and left comments! I'm surprised by the overwhelming response to this fic. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. _

* * *

><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Off the Records: Discovery**

_Konoha, Nov 2022 - 8 years ago_

Neji is fourteen, freshly graduated from cadet school, and eager to see where his newfound skills will take him. Of the younger generation of Hyuuga, Hiashi sees the most potential in him, and tells him so over the video conversations that connect the Earth-bound to those orbiting in space.

_Do the Hyuuga proud,_ Hiashi commands, _we will be watching your progress._

The trainee team he's assigned to possesses skill levels far below his expectations. There is Lee, over-excitable but otherwise unskilled, and Tenten, who is good with a gun, though painfully average in other aspects. Neji watches them train from a distance, aloof, and wonders how they will propel him to greater heights. How they even managed to graduate in the first place.

Their mentor, Captain Gai, is an intense man - he makes them run countless miles in the simulation rooms, through all manner of terrain and weather. Somehow, under his strict training regimes, Neji sees his abilities sharpening, like tempering steel. It isn't only him that has made progress, however; Gai focuses especially on Lee, staying past class hours and training even on weekends. That hard work pays off in the end - under his tutelage, Lee emerges like a gem polished from muddy, roughly-hewn rock, full of energy and lean muscle, ready for physical combat.

Neji finds himself stuck with Tenten most of the time, when Gai is too busy for them both. She has a distinct disadvantage against him in unarmed altercations (the Hyuuga have trained him from young in this skill set), though she is quick and accurate with a gun. They spend most of their time practicing together, speaking little, but learning the other's strengths and weaknesses - Tenten improves to such an extent that there are times when she almost pulls a victory on him in the simulation rooms. Almost, but not quite.

He also discovers a number of things about her, during the times they pause for breaks. Some of that information is redundant, like how she likes Chinese food and solving mysteries, and she is positive where he fails to see the light in a situation.

Then there are the other things; how she is, like him, an orphan, and the way she mirrors his annoyance when Gai proposes a training scheme so ludicrous that only Lee agrees to it. Somehow, through all this, Tenten manages to link bonds of friendship between her and him, and Lee, to the extent that Neji actually looks forward to training with his team. And despite the time she spends practicing with him, Tenten is inexplicably closer to Lee than she is to him, a fact that confuses Neji to no end.

* * *

><p>Neji's perception of Tenten changes five months into the formation of Team Gai.<p>

They are now allowed to follow Captain Gai on simple missions, though Gai never ceases to remind them that every mission is just as critical, despite how utterly pointless they might seem. He places Neji as second-in-command very often, a fact that Neji takes for granted, because he is the genius of the Hyuuga clan. Sometimes, Gai asks Neji for his opinions on how to carry a mission out, and Neji feels a swell of satisfaction when their mentor announces that they will proceed according to Neji's directions.

Tenten envies him for this, that much Neji knows. They have discussed becoming Lieutenants in the future, and he sees Tenten mulling over mission details when Gai hands them the information, her brow furrowed as she listens to Neji's analysis and suggested directions, constantly learning.

Neji thinks he's read her well, and knows everything about her, from all the interactions they've shared to date. He is Hyuuga, after all, perceptive and intelligent. That is how people in his clan view him; he feels their cool, appraising eyes on him whenever he talks to Hiashi over a video call. And Hiashi's words always linger at the back of his mind - _do the Hyuuga proud_.

Their twentieth mission with Gai is no different. Gai gives them a printout of their task - to escort a crate of valuable mushrooms to a planet not too far away. Neji frowns at the mission statement - food delivery, really? - and looks to Gai in annoyance. They are capable of more than this-

_We'll be attacked if pigs smell that,_ Tenten says suddenly, drawing the attention of all three males, _truffles are in high demand._

_Mushrooms?_ Neji questions, his brow furrowing.

_Not mushrooms, truffles!_ Tenten waves the mission printout at him. _They are really expensive fungi! You'd probably have to save your allowance over a lifetime to buy them._

Gai gives a hearty laugh at Tenten's outburst, and claps her so hard on the shoulder that she almost keels over. _Well then, Tenten, why don't you lead this mission?_

Neji's jaw hangs open in shock. Tenten stares at Gai in unbridled delight, and Lee cheers.

Tenten has ordered the crate of truffles to be wrapped tightly in plastic. Gai and Lee are only too willing to oblige, and Neji assists them in carrying the crate on and off Gai's ship, the _Springtime of Youth_. (Neji thinks it's a stupid name.)

The mission goes better than expected, when they land on their destination planet, and Neji and Lee heft the crate down the ship's ramp. _I'll stand guard over the ship,_ Gai informs them - this planet is full of sharp noses, and the usual invisibility shield will not work against bandits who know to sniff for rocket exhaust.

So Tenten leads the way through streets and back alleys while the sun drags itself down the sky, and Neji is almost confident that the mission will be completed without incident-

When needle-like daggers fly between Lee and himself, tearing through the thin plastic wrapping surrounding the crate.

A few things happen at once: Lee drops his side of the crate and whips around, forearms lifted, ready to defend against the enemy, the heavy box slams hard into Neji's toes, sending sharp spikes of pain through his feet, and a dozen bandits surround them, leaping down from the tops of low buildings and landing on closed dumpsters.

Neji swears at the same time Tenten does. They are heavily outnumbered. She pulls her pulse gun out and takes stock of the situation; a dog barks a number of times, as if using a code, and the bandit closest to them smirks. _We have truffles here, don't we,_ he states, more than asks.

Gunfire erupts all around them a split second later. Neji ducks and fires (he sees Tenten and Lee do the same from the corner of his eye), and Lee grabs the crate according to Tenten's plan. The bandits are going down rapidly, though not before a bullet rips through his thigh - shock pounds through his body; Neji gasps in pain, and his leg gives out beneath him. He falls forward onto his hands, bracing himself for the impact, and twists around to continue firing at the bandits. Tenten takes the rest of their attackers out, quicker and more accurately than she's done in their simulations.

The alley rings with silence when all the thugs are down; Neji glances over at his teammates, relief washing over him when they look over at him in concern. There are bullet grazes on their faces and limbs, though nothing as severe as the wound in his thigh.

_How bad is it?_ Tenten asks worriedly, coming over to crouch beside him. Neji sits up, gingerly probing at the dark stain on his pants. The wound isn't gushing blood - a good sign.

_I'm fine,_ he tells them, _leave me here and complete the mission - you need to hurry. The seal is broken, anyone can trace you with that scent._

Tenten shares a look with Lee; he nods, and together, he and Tenten drag Neji to a corner, next to a dumpster. Tenten pulls pieces of cardboard from the trash, lays them over him to disguise his presence. Neji inhales deeply, exhales. He's never been shot before, though first aid lessons have given him information enough to deal with this - he cuts a strip of cloth from the leg of his pants and ties it tightly above the entrance and exit wounds to staunch the bleeding; there will probably be worse injuries than this in the future. Tenten finally draws away when the blood doesn't seem to spread as quickly over his uniform anymore.

_We'll be back soon,_ she informs him anxiously, _don't get yourself killed, Neji._

It's probably the first time he really notices that her eyes are hazel. Neji gives a tight nod, and they hurry off, with Lee balancing the box on his shoulder, and Tenten following the directions on her visor.

There is nothing left to do but wait after that - Neji taps a message to Gai, and settles down to meditate the pain away.

* * *

><p>In the end, Gai is the one to pick him off the streets. They are back in the <em>Springtime of Youth <em>by the time Lee and Tenten return, and Neji is dozing, halfway between wakefulness and slumber, his injury bandaged.

Later, he will remember Gai as being unusually solemn while treating his wound. For now, however, Neji is content to lie back in his drug-induced haze, his teammates questioning Gai noisily from his side.

_Is he going to be okay?_ Tenten's voice rings, nervous. _I'm sorry, Neji, I really am._

_He can't hear you, he's asleep,_ Lee tells her.

_This is all my fault,_ Tenten mumbles miserably. _Is Neji going to hate me?_

_Don't blame yourself, Tenten, none of us could have expected that,_ Gai booms. His voice drifts away soon after, and Neji feels the vibrations of the ship as it takes off.

Neji drifts in and out of sleep, with the hushed voices of his teammates accompanying him. Most of their conversation floats over his head, though a few lines worm their way into his ears.

_You like him an awful lot, don't you, Tenten?_

_Shut up, Lee, it's just a crush. It'll go away._

_That still means you like him though._

Tenten doesn't say anything after that, and Neji frowns a little, trying to decide if he's imagined that snippet. It's a strange feeling, having his teammate be interested in him in a way that doesn't involve familial honor, or prestige, or over-the-top girlishness, as others have done.

The exact words of that conversation will fade in his memory, though Tenten's sentiments are something that Neji will not forget for a long time to come.

* * *

><p><em>AN: A little backstory to Neji... I hope this helps shed a little light on why he's the way he is in the present. :)_


	7. 5: Voyeurism

_And... back to the present. I actually found this chapter hilarious, but it might not be for you. :P_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. Once again, **this fic is rated for mature audiences only. Read at your own discretion.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Chapter 5: Voyeurism**

_Konoha, Dec 10, 2030, 1047 hrs_

Tenten is somewhat mollified to see that her trainees are doing a little better in the simulation room today. On the whole, they've increased their stamina somewhat since she first met them almost a month ago, and Moegi is doing a good job of keeping Konohamaru's temper and Udon's lack of backbone in check. Tenten thinks she might be growing fond of the female trainee, who reminds her of herself, the only difference being that her own teammates had not been quite as unmotivated or untalented. But if Captain Gai could turn Lee into a lean, mean fighting machine, so could she to these kids.

With any luck, they'll be on par with Neji's team at some point, and she'll have them whoop his (very attractive) ass as payback. Damn, but would she love to see that smirk fall from his face.

On the real-time screening of the simulation, Konohamaru is rolling and dodging shots, while Moegi aims for the attackers closing in on them. Udon stays a little ways behind her, nervous, his shots well off the mark, while a computer-generated enemy sneaks up behind them all, unseen. Tenten sighs and shakes her head. What happened to keeping track of all their targets?

With any luck, this ridiculous training scheme will be called off soon, and she'll be able to dump these kids back into Iruka's hands and return to Dragon Platoon. Kiba has been telling her about the new weapons from the labs - and Tenten fell for his bait, hook, line and sinker, because she should be the one touching those babies in all their glory, damn it-

"Hyuuga to Lieutenant Tenten," crackles the intercom in her ear.

She grimaces with the familiarity of the voice and taps on her earpiece to answer him. "Come in," Tenten responds warily, because having Neji strike a private conversation with her like this can't possibly bode well.

"Come into you?" Neji clarifies, not missing a beat, and anger leaps into Tenten's pulse like wildfire.

"What's wrong with you?" she hisses, glancing at the simulation screening.

"Nothing," comes his smooth baritone. "I would, however, like to watch you, ah, interact with the alien specimen- you know the one I'm referring to."

It is a moment before the gravity of his request sinks in. Tenten feels her stomach plummet. "You're fucked up," she snaps. No sane person would want to watch her with the tentacles, no way.

"So are you," he counters, and she hears clearly the smirk in his voice. "Remember, too, the exchange we have in the balance."

Tenten's jaw drops. Didn't she just- "You mean that... act wasn't enough?"

Neji snorts over the intercom. "One instance of sex, really? Those pictures are worth far more than that, Lieutenant."

"Damn you," she grits at him, and he coughs lightly, as if to conceal a laugh. To think she actually found him attractive-

"Tonight, Lab IV, at 0100 hours. Do you copy?" Neji continues, as if he hasn't heard her last comment. And Tenten knows that she doesn't have a choice but to agree, or risk facing the consequences of those pictures making their rounds through her superiors.

"Roger, over and out," she mutters, glaring at nothing in particular.

Tenten is so furious that she barely notices her trainees filing out of the simulation room several minutes later, wearing triumphant grins on their faces.

"We did it, Tenten!" Konohamaru chirps, pumping his fists in the air. "I told you we'd beat the simulation!"

"It felt like that was easier than the previous one though," Moegi comments thoughtfully. She turns to Udon. "I'm glad you saved us when you did, though, that was really brave of you!"

Tenten snaps out of her thoughts then, surveying the simulation results and her trainees. They've cleared the simulation in eighty percent of the time it took them to do another of this difficulty level. Surprised, she looks more closely at the trio; there's a light blush on Udon's cheeks, Moegi is looking proudly at him, and Konohamaru has his hands tucked behind his head, trying to look as if he doesn't care what Moegi is saying about their other teammate.

"Good work, guys," Tenten tells them, looking at each of the kids in turn. "I selected a slightly easier test this time to give you a break."

"So we didn't actually improve that much, after all," Moegi replies, her shoulders slumping.

"Yeah, you'll need a lot more than that to defeat Hyuuga's team," Tenten agrees. The name leaves a bitter taste on her tongue.

Konohamaru narrows his eyes, lower lip pushing up in a pout. "I'm going to be the best there is!"

"Only with a hell lot more training, kid," Tenten tells him dryly. She's reminded of Lee, who was all energy and no direction when he first began. "It can be done, but you'll have to quit fooling around so much."

He looks sourly at her; Tenten glances at Moegi instead, who seems as though she's on the verge of bursting with a question. "What is it? Spill."

"How would you defeat a Hyuuga?" Moegi asks, her brow furrowed. "Rumor has it that you lost to Lieutenant Hyuuga two days ago during a simulation."

Both Konohamaru and Udon perk up at that. Tenten grits her teeth. How is it that news concerning her and Neji gets spread around so quickly?

"Why can't Hyuuga Neji be our mentor instead?" Konohamaru whines, and Tenten fights the urge to hit him with a left hook. Wasn't he pissed at Neji just the other day?

"Shut up, kid," she growls. Damn Neji for undermining her reputation, even among her trainees. "If you want to learn from him, you gotta beat me first. The Uchiha and Hyuuga clans train their offspring in strategy and unarmed physical combat. Someone who doesn't have a family background like that requires a lot more practice to achieve their level of proficiency."

"Well, maybe if he trained me, I'd be able to beat you," Konohamaru mutters mutinously.

With a snarl, Tenten grabs his collar, lifting him off his feet. Fear washes over his face. "One more word from you, kid, and you won't live to see your next birthday," she threatens, her face inches from his. Tenten is struck by the irony that the last person she did this to is, really, the very person they're talking about now.

"You can't kill me, it's against the rules!" Konohamaru squeaks.

"Yeah, but I can make your life a living hell," she replies, and drops him back down, turning away. "Be here at 0800 hours sharp tomorrow, or you'll be doing a hundred laps on soft sand. In the meantime, repeat the training I've been running you guys through. No skipping any of the push-ups, sit-ups or laps."

Konohamaru begins to protest - Tenten silences him with a glare and turns, striding down the corridor. At least she's got a lineup of physicals for the rest of the day to distract her with.

"She's my new hero!" Moegi's squeal all but echos down the hallway, and Tenten grins. Neji's probably having a much easier time with his trainees, though.

At the thought of him, their meeting tonight rushes back into her mind, and her smile slides right off her lips. It isn't so much the sex she minds as suffering his sheer arrogance, the loss of control - plus, that smirk of his makes anger churn in her gut.

And though the prospect of Neji watching her in moments of sheer vulnerability makes the hair on her skin stand on end, there is a little part of her that is curious about it, and excited, all at the same time.

* * *

><p>The Lab IV doors hiss shut behind her at exactly 0100 hours. Tenten draws a deep breath, scans the dim, orange-lit room. The surveillance cameras have already been deactivated, which calms her nerves, but just by a little. She picks her way through the lab and finds Neji on a folding chair beside the <em>tentacula phytum<em>, tapping on his roll-out keyboard. Did she expect any less from him?

"You're fucking insane," she growls. Just the sight of him is enough to make her pulse turn unsteady. _Due to fury,_ she tells herself.

He looks up from the holographic screen, smirks, and scans her form. "Call it curiosity - that has a better ring to it," Neji tells her, keying a string of characters into his keyboard. "I've disabled the doors - they aren't going to open until I feed them the unlocking code."

Tenten rolls her eyes, looking up at the cameras again, just in case. She gestures towards them. "The cameras?"

"Done," Neji replies flippantly, with a slight lift of his shoulders. "Did you expect that little of me?"

"I wouldn't know what to expect of you," she mutters, looking askance at him.

With the issue of security out of the way, Tenten stalks forward, pausing just in front of him and the writhing tentacles. "Isn't there a simpler solution to this situation?" she demands, irate. This should have been a very personal experience, with no audience whatsoever.

Neji raises his eyebrows. "This isn't simple enough, Lieutenant?" he returns, leaning back in his seat. Pale eyes sweep over her form. It feels as if he's stripped her bare with that look, and Tenten doesn't know how to react. "Compared to facing deportation and losing your position, I would assume it is."

Aggravation twists in her stomach. "Get bent, Hyuuga," she snarls, because he's figured her out, and she feels too vulnerable with that information out in the open.

"I don't enjoy yielding my authority," Neji informs her solemnly. "Though it seems that you don't, either. Are we getting started yet?"

"Damn right I don't," she snaps, glaring at him. "Don't you dare take any more pictures."

It is only after he removes the visor from his ear and sets it on the floor with his miniature computer that Tenten begins to relax, just slightly. She tugs at the zipper around her waist, to detach her pants from the rest of her uniform - at least this doesn't require her to be fully undressed. Neji's gaze slips from her face to her legs when she steps out of her boots and kicks the standard-issue pants and her panties off.

His eyes settle on the region of her hips. "Never seen a woman before?" she bites, a light flush gathering on her cheeks. It's not as if she hasn't been with a man before, but Neji is her rival, and this intimacy- It's a little more than what she's comfortable with.

"None with a tongue like yours," Neji admits, his eyes flickering up to meet hers. Her stomach flips.

Slowly, she settles on the cool tiled floor of the lab, spreading her legs to face the _tentacula_. Cool air brushes over her skin.

"Turn towards me," Neji orders.

Tenten understands what exactly he's after, and feels her brittle patience snap. "Why the hell do I have to-"

"The pictures, remember?" He smirks, leans back in his seat, arms folded across his chest.

"I haven't forgotten," she mutters and glares at him, shifting so her bare crotch is open to his view. And amidst her annoyance, there's a little spark of adrenaline that leaks into her veins, because he's seeing her in the most intimate way possible. Tenten parts her legs wider, watching with satisfaction when his gaze anchors onto her groin (she's moister than usual, though there's no way she'll admit that it's because of his very presence).

Neji doesn't reply, and Tenten calms down, slowly, reaching for the squirming, lukewarm mass of tentacles. Two follow the guidance of her fingers and stretch out, contacting her calf, sending a thrill across her skin. She gasps.

The tentacles weave their way over her leg, towards the juncture of her thighs with familiar ease, and Tenten finds her anger melting away, replaced by the first traces of lust, that slowly builds in intensity when the blunt, purple tips trail over her hair and nether lips, probing slowly at her swollen flesh. They leave wet smears over her skin; her breath quickens - she reaches down to part her flesh in invitation. A moan slips from her throat when one tentacle nudges her engorged clit, and the other follows the cleft of her sex, to her damp entrance.

Somehow, she is all the more sensitive today, especially so when she spies the bulge growing at Neji's crotch. The knowledge that she has this power over him makes desire surge afresh in her veins; Tenten opens her legs as far as they can go (his fingers are twitching just the slightest bit). The tentacle at her entrance presses in, spreading her flesh, and Tenten closes her eyes at the sensation, when it fills her, withdraws, and fills her again.

It's all she can do to keep herself propped up on her arms, with the appendages of the _tentacula_ surging within her, over her, driving her to delirium. (And Neji is watching, catching the way she's stretched around the tentacle, instead of him, how it drives into her, and the quiver of her body as she responds.) A third tentacle reaches into her top, though the tension in her belly is fast overcoming her senses, and a crescendo of bliss crashes over her just as a tentacle slides heavily over her flesh.

Tenten moans; her toes curl and her body tightens. She tips her head back, so distracted that she doesn't see Neji scooping the visor off the floor - it is only when the wave of pleasure ebbs that she notices his lifted arm, and the slight movement of his finger on the button by his ear.

For a moment, Tenten stares blankly at Neji, drained, until the weight of his actions plows into her gut with all the force of a battleship's cannon, and she's on her feet before she thinks, pummeling him onto the floor with a crash. The chair skids out from beneath them.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she snarls, throwing a punch at his face that Neji barely catches with the palm of his hand. Tenten tries to yank her fist away, but he isn't letting up, and she swings her other arm at him, crawling onto her knees for leverage-

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Neji mutters, blocking her blow. Tenten growls in frustration, bringing her elbow down to his gut-

And Neji flips them onto her back with his superior strength, pinning her thighs down with his knees. Tenten trembles with barely-contained rage. How dare he betray her trust like that? She leans up and sinks her teeth into his forearm, almost drawing blood - Neji releases her with a grimace; she's shoving him off and leaping back onto her feet, backing away, reaching for her gun-

Except her weapons holster is on the floor between them, attached to her pants.

Damn it. Neji is on his feet and more armed than she is right now, and he's seen her glance at her garments on the floor - that strategy will not work against him. With a yell, Tenten launches herself back at him. Neji steps to the side, just out of the way, and she spins on her heel, grabbing his elbow.

She hooks her foot around his ankle and tugs hard - Neji catches her arms, readjusts his leg to keep himself from falling. Tenten is past caring about her unsightly attacks; she twists herself roughly out of his grasp. "You said you weren't going to take any pictures, damn it!" she bristles.

"I didn't say anything at all," he returns, smugly.

"Why, you insufferable jerk-" Tenten charges at him, drawing a fist back to punch him in the face - Neji dodges that, snatches her wrist, though what he isn't prepared for is the way she tugs the pulse gun from his holster with her other hand, firing it up and prodding his chest hard with it, its quiet vibrations reassuring to her touch. "Make one more move, Hyuuga, and you're dead," she hisses.

Neji lifts a dark eyebrow at her, looks amusedly between her face and his gun. Tenten growls, shoves its barrel further against his chest. Releases the safety catch. "I certainly did not expect this," he murmurs.

And he's tugging on her wrist, swinging her to the side and stepping behind her, anchoring her back to his chest with an arm around her waist. Tenten swears, stomps hard on his foot, but her lack of a boot softens the impact, and she feels the heave of Neji's chest as he gives a low chuckle. "Release me at once!" she threatens, jabbing his thigh with the gun-

Neji plucks the weapon out of her hand, powers it back down and tucks it back into his holster, at the same time he reaches south, smoothing his fingers between her legs.

"What the hell-" she snipes (and her body comes back to life). With a spurt of energy, Tenten writhes and bucks against him (there's a hardness in his clothes that she doesn't miss) and finally tears away from his grasp, panting with exertion. "You need to be skinned alive and roasted in hell," Tenten growls. "Erase those pictures at once."

"First, there is no hell in space," Neji informs her, still smug. Tenten clenches her fists hard, shaking with a heady mix of rage and adrenaline. "And second, you look especially attractive in those pictures. I can't possibly bear to get rid of them."

There is, conveniently, a wide, shallow pot of tentacles right behind Hyuuga Neji.

"Fuck you," Tenten seethes, backing up a couple of steps - and she is sprinting forward at him. Neji reaches out to absorb the impact, though she's expected that, instead stepping to the side- Neji turns, and Tenten darts behind him, yanking on his belt to throw his balance backwards-

Neji stumbles back, feet catching on the edge of the pot, though not before he grabs her arm in a death grip, and jerks her along with him.

The descent into the pot of tentacles happens almost in slow-motion. Tenten yelps, twists around so she lands on Neji's chest instead of the tentacles (his pale eyes are wide with shock)-

And a mess of slime and plant fluids explodes around them.

Tenten fights the urge to retch when acrid slime finds its way into her mouth. The horror and disgust on Neji's goo-covered face is almost worth this - almost - until Tenten peels herself off from him, dripping _tentacula_ remnants, and realizes that the greying tentacles no longer hold life in them. Slime covers everything within a three-foot radius around them - including the folding chair, and the shattered remains of Neji's miniature computer.

"Oh fucking hell," Tenten breathes, floored at the disaster they're now mired in. She spits the slime out, wipes her lips with the back of her hand. It doesn't quite get rid of the bitterness on her tongue.

Neji sits up in the pot of dead _tentacula_ (she isn't sure she's happy that he hasn't hit his head on the other edge of the pot) and looks around, dripping thick fluid, his hair a cascade of muck. Tenten watches with a sort of sick fascination when his gaze lands on the pieces of computer by the chair, that one of them must have crushed in the middle of their altercation, and his jaw drops.

"The unlocking code was in there," he says, to no one in particular.

They're stuck together in here, for the foreseeable future?

Tenten feels as if she could burst with anger. "You... genius," she snarls.

But she doesn't have the heart to punch him, when she tries to stand and slips, instead, on _tentacula_ goo, falling heavily back onto Neji. He grunts.

At length, Tenten manages to crawl out of the pot, wiping slime off her body. She grimaces, sits gingerly on the floor.

Neji hauls himself out, pale eyes surveying the damage in the room. The debris is, really, confined to about a six-foot circle, though there is no hiding, now, that they were in the lab at an ungodly hour, doing ungodly things, resulting in the demise of a specimen that they should not have had access to.

"Fuck," is the only thing Neji says for a long time.

"That all you can manage?" Tenten asks dryly. At least her pants are relatively clean. She pads over to where she remembers seeing Ino stash paper towels, her mood lifting slightly when she finds boxes upon boxes of them.

But damn it, what's _Ino_ going to say about all of this?

Tenten cringes and shoves the thought aside. For now, cleanup comes first. She'll be lucky if she comes out of this situation with minimal punishment. And it's all fucking Neji's fault. Damn it all to hell.

She tosses a box of towels at his head, watching with grim satisfaction as it bounces off, landing wetly in a puddle of goo. Neji turns to look at her with a shuttered expression. "Clean up," Tenten tells him. "I'm not going to do this alone. This is all your damn fault in the first place."

Things go by a lot quicker after she folds her emotions away; if Neji noticed this change, he certainly has not commented on it. She avoids looking at him as much as possible, and her clothes are wiped down and back on her once she's cleaned her legs off. So much for her weekly escape into the lab.

It's a while before the floors and equipment around the _tentacula_ pot are presentable, and Neji fills two large trash bags full, setting them aside. Tenten surveys the lab with a wince - the tiled floors are as clean as they can get, and the specimen pot is now empty, cleared of dead alien material. Damn it.

"Get us out of this mess, Hyuuga," she mutters, breaking the lengthy silence. "You're the cause of all this."

Neji glances at her from the corner of his eye. (He's looking a lot better without the gooey splatters and his hair being a glistening curtain of slime.) "Says the one who pushed me into that pot," he returns evenly.

"If you thought with your head and not your... privates, and didn't take that damn picture, none of this would've happened!" Tenten snaps. She can stand to not imagine his manly bits, no thank you.

"Has it occurred to you that I need silence to think of a solution?" he remarks, eyes narrowed. Tenten doesn't miss how he's completely refrained from acknowledging her acid comment. She seats herself on the folding chair, watching as he gets to his feet and paces around, looking at the computer stations that are, no doubt, password-protected.

"When did you learn to hack into programs, anyway?" she mutters sourly. It's been six years since Neji graduated early from Team Gai, six years since she really knew him.

"After I graduated." Neji's reply is quiet, and he looks briefly at her, before settling in front of the nearest computer terminal. The remains of his compact computer are in a clear, sealed bag by the _tentacula_ pot. "You've climbed through the ranks yourself."

Tenten rolls her eyes. "Cut the crap, Hyuuga. I don't want to imagine what Kurenai will have to say about us destroying her specimens."

Neji slants a look at her. Professor Yuuhi Kurenai is in charge of all the labs aboard the ship, with enough experience like others in her rank (Captain Gai, for example) to weed lies from any excuse they may have. There isn't a plausible story Tenten can think of to explain this, short of the truth.

"I'll work on a story. Give me some time to get the door unlocked," Neji tells her, turning back to the computer screen. The system logs him in somehow, and Tenten stares - how on earth did he get access to the computers so easily?

"Did you steal someone's password or something?" she asks, curious. Unbidden, Tenten feels herself stand and walk over to hover by Neji's shoulder.

"I used my cousin's login details," he explains, not looking at her this time, typing a string of code into the command prompt.

"You mean, Hinata?" Tenten guesses, frowning. She doesn't see the heiress of the Hyuuga line around very often. Hinata isn't part of the lab team, though - why would she have a login ID here? Neji doesn't answer this time, and Tenten stands around, watching as Neji's fingers fly across the keyboard, speaking a language that she has not bothered to learn.

At length, Neji looks up from the screen, and at her. "The doors are back to normal. I've erased Hinata's login details on the system - she won't be held accountable for this."

"Right," she says dubiously. "What about the _tentacula_?"

"I dropped by to inspect them and accidentally tripped and fell in." Neji arches a brow at her, as if daring her to challenge his statement. She snorts. Neji, accidentally tripping and falling? "You happened to be around to challenge my entry and I allowed you to follow me into the lab."

"I'm sure Kurenai's gonna buy that," Tenten tells him sarcastically.

Neji frowns, logging off from the computer terminal. "You come up with a better one, then. Meet me outside her office at 0700 hours sharp. With any luck, she'll allow us some time to obtain a new specimen, and that'll be the end of it."

"Wait." She holds up a hand. "What about the pictures? I fucked you, and I did the tentacles earlier - isn't that enough?"

The look on his countenance turns into one of amusement. Neji's eyes are cool, measuring. "Not by a long shot, Lieutenant."

Her head swims. Tenten barely musters the energy to growl, "I hate you."

Neji walks over to the _tentacula_ pot and retrieves his bag of shattered computer parts, pausing to look at her over his shoulder. "Are you ever planning on leaving the lab?"

Tenten grits her teeth then, reluctantly following him out of the room.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I love barbs at Neji's intelligence LOL. Once again, thank you for the reviews! If you enjoyed the chapter, let me know! ;)_


	8. 6: Famous Last Words

_New week, new update! This chapter never fails to amuse me whenever I read it. :P_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

* * *

><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Chapter 6: Famous Last Words**

_Konoha, Dec 11, 2030, 0708 hrs_

"Really."

Professor Yuuhi Kurenai swivels in her high-backed office chair, turning to scrutinize Tenten instead. "And you didn't prevent Lieutenant Hyuuga from tripping and falling into the specimen?"

Tenten flushes under the older woman's gaze. Those crimson eyes of Kurenai's are always unnerving to look at; it seems as if they could throw her into illusions if she stared too hard. "Well, I was calling him a small-dicked pussy, and he turned around at the most unfortunate time," Tenten answers.

Beside her, Neji's fists tighten imperceptibly.

The corners of Kurenai's lips twitch. For an instant, Tenten could've sworn that there was a spark of humor in Kurenai's eyes, though the moment is gone as soon as she blinks. "Well, the Hyuuga clan can stand to be taken down by a notch or two," Kurenai allows, biting down a smile. "I could say the same for your uncle, Neji."

Tenten snorts. She tries to cover it up with a cough, a little too late. Did Kurenai actually see-

"With regard to the consequences of your actions..." Kurenai pauses, bringing her fingers into a steeple. Tenten gulps. Ordinarily, she would think of the lab director as sexy, with her unruly dark hair, red lipstick and full curves under her lab coat, but right now, Kurenai holds Tenten's entire life in her hands, and Tenten isn't the least bit inclined to cross her. "Seeing as the destruction of the specimen was not a result of malicious action, I'll grant the two of you four days to retrieve a new specimen. Any later than that, and this will reach Admiral Tsunade's ears."

Relief crashes into Tenten, sinking into her bones like a sponge takes water.

"Thank you, Professor-" she gasps.

"However," Kurenai interrupts, sending her a severe look, "I don't want to see either of you back in the labs. Your access rights will be revoked."

Her stomach clenches. Tenten stifles a grimace and nods, bringing her hand up in a stiff salute. "Understood, Professor."

"That insult was unnecessary," Neji mutters once they're out of Kurenai's offices, heading back to their quarters.

"It made all the difference," Tenten argues, propping her hands on her hips. "Kurenai smiled. She actually smiled! She agrees that you're a tiny-dicked wimp."

Neji glares at her. "You know my dimensions. I am not-"

"Suck it before I spread the word that Professor Kurenai found the size of your manly bits funny. And your uncle's, too," she threatens in return. "Ino would have a field day working on it."

He scoffs. "And Yamanaka would have a field day knowing that you've slept with me."

How the hell did he know that? Neji wasn't anywhere nearby when they had that conversation, unless- "Damn you," Tenten growls. "I didn't think you'd sink that low, Hyuuga."

His lips curve in a smirk. "All the easier to, ah, join with you."

Is his mind in the gutter all the time? "I don't want you anywhere near my bed, jerk," Tenten bristles. "Why me, anyway? Ino said you're the most frigid-"

Neji slows down as they approach the corridors leading to the Lieutenants' quarters. He looks sidelong at her. "We depart at noon today. The _Byakugan_ is in hangar C64. Don't be late."

With that, Neji turns down a corridor, and disappears from sight.

"To hell with you, Hyuuga," she mutters, staring murderously at where she last saw him. "This is all your fault."

* * *

><p>"You're going on a romantic intergalactic cruise with <em>the<em> Hyuuga Neji?" Ino all but squeals. Tenten looks nervously around the otherwise-empty cafeteria.

"Shut up, Ino, no one else needs to know about this!" Tenten hisses. "And it's a mission, not some damn romantic getaway! I don't even like him!"

Ino raises a perfectly-trimmed blond brow. "What kind of mission requires just the two of you on board a ship? What about your trainees?"

"An impromptu collection mission." She scowls. At least it's too early yet for Ino to find out about the missing _tentacula_ specimen. "I'll hand my trainees over to Lee in the meantime - he's agreed to cover for me for a few days."

It's fortunate that Lee is as much of a sweetheart as he is (or perhaps he just wanted to spread the joy of springtime and youth and green to her poor kids), because he's agreed to train the three of them on her behalf, no questions asked.

"I'm so jealous of you, Ten," Ino sighs, propping her chin up in her palm. "Imagine looking at him for four days straight-"

"He's the biggest dickhead, you wouldn't want to go anywhere near him with a ten-foot pole," Tenten mutters sourly.

Ino flicks a measuring glance at her. "Wait, did you mean to say that he _is_ the biggest dickhead, or that he _has_ the biggest dickhead?"

"Oh god, Ino," Tenten mumbles exasperatedly, dragging a hand over her face. It doesn't help that she's only got a few hours of sleep in last night, between washing the _tentacula _goo off and worrying about what Kurenai's sentence would be. The last thing she wants right now is an image of Neji's groin flashing in her mind. "Just go away."

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you weren't into getting laid," Ino replies dryly.

Being pounded senseless sounds like a very good idea right about now-

Oh _hell no_, what is she thinking? Tenten grabs her head and groans, thumping her forehead noisily into the cafeteria table. Ino's cutlery clatters around in her tray.

"Hey, I'm trying to eat here, stop disrupting the wavelengths of my food particles," Ino chides, frowning. "Or are you trying to come to terms with the fact that you have raging female hormones?"

_Damn straight, Ino._

"I'm trying to knock myself unconscious before the mission," Tenten mutters. The sandwich and coffee in her stomach seem to be doing a merry tango.

"Girl, I'd be orgasmic if I were in your position," Ino says between mouthfuls of food. "Think of how many times you can screw him on the trip there - just put the ship on autopilot-"

"Why don't you go screw him yourself?" Tenten grumbles. She flattens her cheek against the table and looks up at the blond. Ino sure doesn't take character into consideration when it comes to this. "He's an ass. All yours."

"He _has_ an ass," Ino corrects, and bites into an apple. "I'd tap that. So hard."

"Go right ahead." Tenten reluctantly drags herself back into an upright position. There's still Captain Gai to notify, and her kids to talk to. At least she's still holding on to her job. "I'd even tie him up for you, how about that?"

"Nah, I'll pass," Ino grins. "He has to come to me willingly."

Gods, for Neji to seek Ino out willingly instead... Tenten heaves a deep sigh. "I need to go. It's almost eight, and I still need to tell the kids that I'll be gone."

"Have a good trip." Ino winks. "Don't fight your attraction, Ten."

"I'll try my best not to kill him," Tenten replies tiredly, getting to her feet. "Just for you, Ino."

* * *

><p>"That's not fair! Hyuuga's students are going to get more training in than we will!" Konohamaru exclaims, pouting.<p>

Tenten sighs. "Look, it's only four days, and besides, training with my Second is nothing like what I've been putting you through."

The simulation room is acrid this morning, a harsh desert landscape similar to the one she fought Neji in, with dusty, hard ground, red skies, and scattered boulders across the landscape.

"Lee's gym routine is a thousand push-ups, a thousand sit-ups, fifty miles on the treadmill - you get my drift." She surveys her trainees, who have fallen silent. "He will be expecting you to do the same."

"What?" Moegi cries, discomfiture scrawled over her face. "That's insane! Couldn't you train with us, Tenten?"

"I think I'm gonna die in the middle of it," Udon intones, sniffling. "I've never exercised that much before."

"Well, all the more you should get started on it," Tenten informs them. "Lee was at your level when he first started, and he became my Second two years after he graduated. Even Hyuuga doesn't have his stamina."

The trio goggles at her.

"I guess we'll be fine training with Lee," Konohamaru finally concedes. Tenten grins and ruffles his hair; he stares resentfully up at her. "Hey, don't touch my hair! I spent an hour on it!"

A laugh bubbles up her chest. "Well, get used to crappy hair, kid - you won't have time to look your best out on the field."

"But Lieutenant Hyuuga has the nicest hair on the ship," Moegi pipes up with a frown.

Tenten smirks. "You've noticed?"

"Who doesn't notice that curtain of hair?" Konohamaru grouses. "It's like he soaks it in conditioner or something."

"He does," she tells him wryly. Neji has always had the best hair on the ship, ever since their cadet years a decade ago. Tenten realizes, with some surprise, that neither she nor Lee has actually criticized him about it before.

"Which brand do you think he uses?" Moegi asks, touching her own hard, wiry hair. "I'd like to try ordering some with the online catalog."

_Silk._ Tenten purses her lips, on the verge of mentioning the name. It's the brand she remembers him hoarding six years ago, though he might have switched ever since - but he's smelled the same as before during their recent encounters. "Ask him when he gets back," she suggests instead.

"He's going on the mission too?" Udon questions, blearily. Both Konohamaru and Moegi perk up at the news.

"Are you going on a date?" Moegi whispers, her cheeks turning pink.

"Oh gods, no," Tenten groans, rolling her eyes. "Not you guys too."

"You're interested in him, huh?" Konohamaru grins, thumbing his nose.

"One more word, Konohamaru, and I'll punch your guts into tomorrow," Tenten mutters, narrowing her eyes. "He's the nastiest piece of crap I've ever seen."

"I've never seen her so worked up before," Moegi whispers loudly to Udon.

"Except when we lost to his team," Udon whispers back.

Tenten snaps. "That's it, five hundred laps around the room, now!" she orders. The three kids whine pitifully at her. "Any more protests, and it'll be seven hundred laps!"

Konohamaru grumbles, turning away to begin jogging. Moegi and Udon drag their feet behind him.

A sudden idea floats into her mind, and Tenten finds herself cheering up significantly. "You know what, guys," she begins, a grin tugging on her lips. The trainees look warily at her. "We'll be gone four days. If you're up for a prank, sneak into his quarters and add bleach to his conditioner. The stronger, the better. Don't leave any trace of your presence - just like a mission."

The look on their faces is priceless. Tenten has a sneaking suspicion that if there's one thing her team is good at, it's pulling the unexpected.

* * *

><p>"I'd like to put in a request for some time off," Tenten tells Gai, seated across from him at his desk three hours later. The training session with her kids had gone unexpectedly well - their high spirits were likely fueled by the prospect of pulling an unimaginable prank on <em>the<em> Hyuuga Neji. "Four days, today through the fourteenth."

"Four days?" Gai studies her contemplatively, arms folded across his wide chest. "That's the same request Neji put in an hour ago."

"Yeah, I'm leaving on an impromptu mission with him," Tenten reveals, her shoulders sagging. It is really only with her platoon and Gai that she allows such weakness to show.

"Who assigned this mission?" Gai is shrewd behind his genial expression, and Tenten knows better than to try and hide the truth from him.

"Professor Kurenai. She wants us to replace a specimen that perished." She pulls a face. The visual of the dead _tentacula_ is still fresh in her memory - that, as well as Neji, who is the cause of this entire mess in the first place.

"And it's just the two of you going?" Gai leans back into his seat, rubbing his chin. "Last I heard, Kurenai sent four on a specimen collection mission - two Lieutenants, two Seconds."

Tenten gapes at him. "Damn it. Are the two of us going to be enough?"

"I believe you'll be able to do it, Tenten." Gai flashes a thumbs-up at her. "Think of it as extra training!"

She is still staring at her former mentor when Gai adds, "Besides, I'm certain that Neji will protect you, should any unfortunate event occur."

"I don't need protection, Gai." Tenten sends him a baleful stare. "Surely you know my capabilities."

"Better than anyone else," he acknowledges pridefully, with a gleaming smile. "After all, I trained you, dear lotus."

She chooses to ignore the nickname this time - there are more pressing matters at hand, like making Gai see that she really does not need Neji for anything. "So I won't need to be protected," Tenten repeats.

"Ah, but Neji will want to," the Captain tells her sagely.

_What?_

"You're out of your mind," she retorts.

"Having your teammate perform at their best is crucial for a mission's success, is it not?" Gai raises his eyebrows.

"It is," she agrees reluctantly.

"Neji is a hot-blooded young man, you know," Gai adds. "Though he might be in need of guidance sometimes."

"Right." She doesn't think so. Neji just needs to stay the hell away from her.

"Anyway, have fun on your mission," Gai salutes, with his characteristic grin, bowl-cut gleaming under the fluorescent light. He waggles his eyebrows. "I'm sure Neji will appreciate having you around."

Tenten scowls at him. "There's nothing going on between us," she asserts, for good measure.

But Gai seems to pay no mind to her words, instead waving her off. "Enjoy the springtime of your youth, Tenten!"

* * *

><p><em>AN: I'm so sorry Tenten. A lot of the humor in this chapter was done at your expense. HA HA._

_As always, thank you for the reviews! I'm amazed by the number of people who take their time to leave a comment ;)_


	9. 7: Osiris

_New chapter! This is a super-long chapter and took me 3 hours to edit (and that was the third round of editing)... and was about 3 days of solid writing or something._

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me. As always, **this fic is rated for mature audiences. Read at your own discretion.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Complexities of Blackmail<strong>

**Chapter 7: Osiris**

_Konoha, Dec 11, 2030, 1200 hrs_

"I have my supplies packed for four days," Tenten reports the moment Neji is within hearing distance. He nods in acknowledgement and stops by an iris scanner, bending down slightly to look into it. The access light flashes green a moment later, and the doors to the pre-airlock chamber slide open.

"There are enough supplies on my ship for this mission," Neji informs her as he straightens. His gaze slips over her form, and Tenten shivers. There's no stopping how her body reacts to him, is there?

"Well, you didn't give any specifics before we parted ways." She shrugs, following him through the chamber and into the hangar, where his ship is docked.

Hangar C64 is one of the multi-purpose hangars that were built to house spacecrafts up to five times the size of theirs, and the gunmetal-gray ship they stride towards seems tiny against the cavernous chamber. Smooth steel panels line the walls of the hangar - spare parts and tools are hidden behind those panels, retrieved only when the airlock is engaged.

Like her spacecraft, the _Silver Blade_, the _Byakugan_ is one built for combat missions and speed. Shaped like a bulky triangle, with a pointed nose flaring out to flat wings at its sides, and rocket engines right at the very back, the appearance of the ship is an understatement compared to its abilities. Tenten guesses that it has firepower similar to hers, with retractable ray guns built into its sides. Neji keys a command into his earpiece, and the lights on the ship flicker on. Low engine hums fill the hangar. A door folds down from its side, extending into a ramp.

"I'm assuming that you know how we're going to retrieve another _tentacula_ specimen," Tenten states dryly, following Neji into his ship. "Kurenai made no mention about that."

The ramp seals itself back into the doorway of the ship once they're on board, and Neji settles into the pilot's seat at the cockpit. She buckles herself into the empty seat on his right, where his Second would usually go.

"I'm disappointed," Neji eventually speaks, between flicking switches on and obtaining clearance from the flight control room. "I would have thought Yamanaka knew about my involvement in the specimen retrieval missions."

Tenten frowns. Neji was a part of those missions? That explains why he had lab access to the alien specimens. "I didn't mention the specific mission to Ino - she doesn't need to know that."

Neji doesn't answer her for a while; the switches on his console are glowing, and he's scrolling through holographic screens displaying the ship's supplies. Tenten finds herself looking over his shoulder at them. It isn't easy to give up being in charge, when she's been leading her platoon for three years straight.

Full tank of fuel. Oxygen enough for seven days. Nuclear weapons fully charged. Full supplies of firearms and food.

"Key in the coordinates of the parent star," Neji says, glancing back at her. "We're headed for the Pegasus constellation, quadrant NQ4. Coordinates: right ascension, 22-03-10. Declination, positive 18-53-04."

"Roger that," she replies, typing into her keyboard. The screen to her right blinks twice and displays their flight path. "We'll be there in 12 hours and 56 minutes. No reports of conflicts along the way."

"Got that."

Neji fires up the _Byakugan_, swiveling it around so that they're facing the hangar doors. It is a moment longer before the amber light above the doors turns green - air has been evacuated from the airlock, and the giant doors slide open. Beyond, the universe is a canvas of velvety black, speckled by a million stars.

They steer carefully out of the _Konoha_, and with a powerful thrust, the _Byakugan_ takes off, leaving its mother ship far behind.

Tenten waits until they've achieved a stable speed, before looking back at Neji. "You were involved in the specimen retrieval missions?"

He glances at her momentarily. "I was ordered to follow Hinata on those missions, along with Shino and Chouji."

She raises her eyebrows. "Are four people really necessary for that?"

"No. But it was an order."

"To protect a main-line Hyuuga?"

Neji is silent for a while. He isn't looking back at her when he speaks, "I didn't think you still remembered that."

She snorts, tipping her head back in her seat. "I still remember a lot of things about you, Hyuuga Neji. Most of which I'd rather forget."

"I'm honored."

Tenten rolls her eyes. "I'd trade your honor for leadership on this mission."

He smirks then, turning to her. "You don't have the experience required for it."

"Damn you."

"Besides, I'm more familiar with the interspecies protocol than you are. We aren't cleared to deal with other species on this mission."

That could be dangerous.

"What are the chances of us running into another species?" she asks.

"About twenty percent. I have equipment for specimen collection on board the ship."

"How current is your information?"

"Two years. I haven't needed to return for another specimen since." Neji looks pointedly at her. "Hawk Platoon has been stationed at Orion's Belt until recently."

"The cluster of low technology?" Tenten laughs at the thought of high-and-mighty Neji having to do his own laundry. It isn't enough to completely lift her spirits from their current predicament, but that's all right. "I didn't think you knew how to cook."

Neji scans his console, and looks back at her solemnly. "I learned."

"Well, you need to learn to shove your tiny dick where it belongs," Tenten mutters with a scowl, her attention drifting. She still hasn't got over their recent entanglements - the blackmail, the pictures, her lab access rights, and how she could still have been on the _Konoha_ right now if it weren't for him.

"In you?" he returns, with a half-smirk. She glares at him. "You never actually complained about my size when you were, ah, straddling me."

Tenten flushes. "I could kill you right now and say we met with an accident."

"That would be too easy, wouldn't it?" Neji returns. "What's more, you're out of sexual entertainment now - no _tentacula_, and no lab access rights."

How did he-

"Will you quit eavesdropping on my conversations?" she snaps, glowering at him. Neji must know about her aversion to relationships, then.

"At some point," he agrees evasively, studying her with his pale eyes.

"You know I hate you."

"Yes, you've mentioned it once before." Neji lifts his shoulder. "Your body thinks otherwise."

Tenten bristles. "Why even blackmail me, anyway? Ino's dying to fuck you."

"Will you be writing a letter of commendation for me, then?" A prideful look flashes through his eyes, almost nostalgic in its appearance - she hasn't seen it in a long time. Years, maybe.

"Over my dead body," she spits. "Why me? There are at least fifty other women on board the _Konoha_. Or do you just pick on those who don't sleep around?"

Despite all this time, she hasn't been able to figure out why he's blackmailing her in particular. Sex isn't that precious a commodity on board the _Konoha_.

He sends an almost-wistful smile her way then, and doesn't answer the question. "Have you figured out the alternatives to... satisfy yourself, then?"

No, she hasn't. Tenten sits and stews in simmering anger. "Even if I have, they wouldn't include you."

The corners of his lips tug upwards. Neji leans back in his seat, looking straight ahead. "I'm the leader of this mission, Lieutenant. You obey my orders."

The implications of his statement hits her hard in the stomach, leaving her winded. "I expected more of you, Hyuuga," she tells him bitterly.

"There are still twelve flight hours to go. You might want to catch some sleep... and see to your needs."

She doesn't need to see his face to know the smirk playing on his mouth. It is a good idea, though - to sleep, at least - and Tenten doesn't deny the practicality of his suggestion. The seat belt unbuckles with a click, and she floats out of her seat, grabbing at handrails to propel herself into the cabin.

"I won't be looking," Neji calls after her, and she flips him off, even though he isn't able to see it.

* * *

><p>"I trust that the flight has been proceeding well," Neji says by way of greeting, when he leaves the cabin.<p>

Tenten barely turns to acknowledge his presence. "It's been smooth sailing so far."

He floats into the pilot's seat and straps himself down, glancing over the console and holographic screens. Five hours of peace have passed without Neji's aggravating remarks; Tenten acknowledges that his suggestion to get some rest has its merits, however. She's been reading Lee's notes on the advanced weaponry course, refreshed after her own nap earlier.

"I could get you the full lesson plan and weapon details on that course, and the next one," Neji says from his seat, without looking back.

Tenten frowns. "Will you quit spying on me?"

"Not a chance." Neji casts a look back at her then, and smirks. "Are you interested?"

The allure of having more inside information on the new weapons is enough to give her pause - and Neji is fully aware of it.

"The fifth version of the pulse gun includes nuclear-powered lasers, ten times the firepower of the fourth version," he reveals. Tenten's eyes widen. That wasn't in Lee's notes. "They've made a portable version for field combat."

She swallows. "You wouldn't hand over information like that without a price tag on it."

The smile on his lips cements that fact. Lilac eyes bore into hers; she feels their intensity even across the three feet between their seats. "All I ask for is your cooperation."

"On this mission?" She isn't planning on screwing this up, anyway.

"On this mission, and anything that comes after." Tenten realizes that he means the blackmail. What is the price of a little more information in the face of deportation? She's already bound to him by those pictures, anyway. "You will not murder me on the return flight."

She scoffs this time. "I wasn't planning to, anyway. I'm not like you."

Neji looks sharply at her - but she blinks, and the moment is gone. "I'll send you the relevant files when we return."

"Deal."

The cockpit is silent after that - Tenten is content to monitor her screens, and Neji taps quietly on his keyboard for long minutes, until her screen beeps, to signal that they're approaching the specific star in the Pegasus constellation.

"We're closing in," she informs Neji. Hitting a combination of keys brings the preview of their target solar system onto her screen; there are three planets surrounding the parent star. "Five minutes from reaching the outer orbit - which planet are the _tentacula_ on?"

"Middle orbit. Planet HD209458b, also named Osiris."

Tenten keys in the new directions, and the booster rockets on the side of the _Byakugan_ fire up, to change their course. "Heading for Osiris now. Brief me on the species we'll find there."

"On the previous mission, the area we landed at only comprised of _tentacula phytum_," Neji responds, keying in a command.

In the next moment, a holographic screen appears by Tenten's side, displaying an image of the _tentacula_, as well as a list of its physical characteristics. She isn't surprised to find that she feels a twinge of fondness towards the generated 3D image. Perhaps when they get a specimen on the ship-

"There are also the _zurgois_," Neji continues, typing, and the details on her screen change. "We shouldn't see these around, however. They're found on the next continent."

"Right." This new species is wiry and reptilian, with large eyes, a small beak-like mouth, spindly fingers and claw-like feet. Tenten grimaces, reads its description. The species is sentient and lethal, and with luck, they wouldn't have to encounter any of these.

"There are other species on Osiris, but the _zurgois_ are the only predators we'll need to watch out for," Neji informs her.

He shuts the _Byakugan_'s rockets off, allowing the ship to slow down as it penetrates the planet's atmosphere with a shudder. This is Tenten's least favorite part about piloting a ship - feeling as if the ship could wrench out of her control any minute.

The rest of the descent is uneventful; Osiris is humid, with orange-brown soil and craggy mountains surrounded by flat, dead plains. The next holographic screen Neji flashes at her is its atmosphere; it has a similar gaseous composition as the air on earth, and is a few degrees warmer than what she's comfortable with.

The _Byakugan_ approaches the surface slowly; they are close enough to see detail on the dry ground now, and Tenten's attention is drawn to the way Neji leans forward in his seat, a frown creasing his forehead.

"What's the matter?" she asks, tilting her head to better gauge his reaction.

"The _tentacula_ here are all dead." Neji sends the ship flying in a different direction, and all Tenten sees is orange-brown dirt, and greyish, dried remnants of what must have been the alien species a long time ago.

They fly in silence for long minutes, from one edge of the continent to the other, and the results are the same: the _tentacula_ have all perished, a long time ago.

"Crap," Tenten mutters.

Neji throws her a sidelong glance. "I guess we're going to have to invade the territory of the _zurgois_, then."

There is no humor in his tone.

Neji flies them over a vast, muddy ocean, to another piece of land an hour away. The islands they've passed do not seem to harbor any _tentacula_, which is no surprise to her, really - the oceans of Osiris are an amalgam of acids, too corrosive for the likes of a moisture-based species such as the _tentacula_.

Tenten gives a silent cheer when they spot a field of purple _tentacula_ in a valley, their shifting appendages glistening under sunlight. There is little to be seen for miles but _tentacula_on the orange soil, and large boulders scattered through the valley.

The _Byakugan_ lands with a soft hiss in the shadow of a cliff. Tenten straps additional ammunition onto her belt, just in case, and looks towards Neji, who is dragging a large, black disc towards the door.

"Shouldn't the equipment be more portable than that?" she asks, scrolling through the stats on her visor. The atmosphere of Osiris comprises largely of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, with traces of water vapor - they will not need gas masks when venturing out.

"It possesses the strength and technology required to contain more volatile species," Neji grunts. "I have just the one on board."

An infrared scan from a cabin computer determines no _zurgois_ within a mile-wide radius; Neji nods at Tenten, before lowering the ramp to the ground. The heat that washes into the ship is enough to make Tenten reel on her feet; everything feels heavier on Osiris, courtesy of its strong gravitational pull. She grits her teeth. The very essence of the planet will slow them down, despite how close they are to the _tentacula_.

"I don't need to remind you to refrain from firing," Neji says, as they carry the containment unit down the ramp together. "For one, we aren't cleared to deal with any other species."

"I'm aware of that." She rolls her eyes.

Neji taps a button on his earpiece, and the _Byakugan_'s invisibility shield powers up, hiding all evidence of its presence.

Slowly, they make their way across the rock-strewn valley, towards the field of _tentacula_, with the metal disc between them. Tenten growls low in her throat. The heat and pressure here aren't lifting her mood any. "Couldn't we have landed the ship any closer to the field? This is fucking heavy."

Neji is walking with his back towards her now, supporting the disc behind him. He angles a smirk at her. "This is part of training, Lieutenant."

Tenten glares at him.

"I'd rather train while we aren't waving a damn freakin' beacon in the aliens' faces, smartass," she snaps, shoving the disc towards him.

"Watch it," Neji grunts, looking back at her in annoyance. "I'd like to avoid dropping this."

"Move quicker, then," Tenten grumbles.

It feels like an eternity before they reach the field of _tentacula_, and another hour before Neji decides on the specimen he wants. They set the containment unit down at the edge of the field - there are too many large rocks and _tentacula_ within - and trudge towards Neji's chosen specimen.

"What's the difference between them?" Tenten asks with a frown. The _tentacula_ look all the same to her, with their writhing, glistening limbs. Her thoughts are edging towards the gutter, and she bites her lip to keep her attention from straying.

"Those most vivid in color are the healthiest," Neji begins, crouching down low beside one. His hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and he tugs a pair of gloves from his belt. "We also need one that's apart from the rest - it won't be easy digging it out."

"We have to dig it out?" Tenten winces, looking around for _zurgois_, just in case. This is going to take longer than she expected. Neji tosses a small shovel at her.

"It's a plant species, if you recall," he begins, digging into the soil with his gloved fingers. "There is a shallow root system - I'd like to not destroy that."

She exhales heavily and crouches down a couple of feet away from him. The specimen is not overly large; about three feet across, a little smaller than the one they crushed in Lab IV. Purple tentacles snake over each other - Tenten alternates between digging and looking at the _tentacula_, swallowing hard. She moves a little closer, with the express purpose of seeking its roots, when a tentacle brushes her cheek, and she gasps.

Neji glances at her, ever alert. She dips her chin, blushing at her reaction. He doesn't need to know how much this species affects her. Tenten wipes the slime off her face with her forearm, and continues to work.

The _tentacula_ is close to others of its kind on the far side - she's unearthed some of the pink, finger-like roots of the plant now - and Tenten squirms when a neighboring _tentacula _brushes its appendages over her back. The uniform is thin enough that she can feel its touch; her breathing deepens. She's torn between wanting its tentacles further down, and having it stop making contact with her completely.

"Encountered a problem?" Neji asks some time later, when beads of sweat are starting to form on her upper lip. She's feeling a little too feverish, a little too desperate. Maybe she should've taken Neji's advice earlier and rubbed herself a climax while she could.

"No. Mind your own business," she snaps, breathlessly, and groans when a tentacle slips along her outer thigh. Damn it, she can't lose control in front of Neji like that.

Neji has worked his way around the other side of the _tentacula_, and they're slowly freeing its roots by crouching right next to it, bringing Tenten far closer to the specimen than she needs to keep her thoughts straight.

She collapses onto the ground long minutes later, when they've finally separated the _tentacula_ from most of its soil, sweating profusely, her panties soaked. Neji turns an appraising look on her.

"You look as if you're on the verge of orgasm," he comments dryly. She glares at him, bereft of words. "Need a little help with it?"

"Shut up, and keep your extremities to yourself, Hyuuga," Tenten bristles, shifting her weight so she's crouching right next to the _tentacula_. "Are we moving it back to the ship, or what?"

Neji is about to answer her when he pauses, looking sharply to his left. Tenten follows his gaze - and her breath freezes in her chest when she notices two distinct shapes heading through the _tentacula_ field for them. All traces of lust evaporate from her veins.

"Damn it, I thought you were keeping watch," she hisses at Neji. She plunges her arms into the _tentacula_, finding the bulk of it and hefting it up. And Tenten promptly sways on her heels, landing hard on her butt. The _tentacula_ is too heavy, too large for her to carry it by herself to the containment unit - but Neji could manage it.

The _zurgois_ are closing in faster, now. Neji swears.

Gingerly, she sets the specimen outside the hole they've dug, and scrambles to her feet, next to Neji.

"Grab it and go," she mutters to him. The pair of _zurgois_ pauses five yards away, surveying them. Their spindly fingers curl. "I'll hold them off."

"Not without knowledge of them, you don't," Neji returns, looking briefly at her with his pale eyes, before shifting his attention back to the aliens. They are just about four feet tall, falling slightly below shoulder-height, though physical appearances can be deceiving.

The writhing mass of _tentacula_ remains behind her and Neji, painfully oblivious to the situation, and Tenten eases closer to it, in case she somehow gets the opportunity to pick it up and run. From what little she knows of the wiry _zurgois_, (they are intelligent, use their bodies as weapons, and communicate without speaking), there is a possibility that she and Neji could outrun them, though the _tentacula_ would slow them down greatly, and the _zurgois_ have the home territory advantage, with their claw-like feet and familiarity of the land.

"I'll handle this," Neji tells her from the corner of his mouth.

The alien closer to them lifts its arm, large, black eyes trained on them; it is in this moment that Neji draws his gun and fires, hitting them with a stun ray, at the same time spindles explode from the alien's hand, tiny needles hurtling towards them at breakneck speed-

Tenten throws herself to the side, while Neji grabs the writhing _tentacula_ and rolls away somehow. She runs out of momentum a little too soon, and sharp spikes of pain stab into her legs and belly and arm.

She gasps, pushes her feet beneath her, willing her body to keep its balance as she stands. A quick survey tells her that the _zurgois_ are on the ground and out for the count; Neji is on his feet, heading towards her with the _tentacula_, its appendages wrapping around his torso. Tenten would have laughed at the comical sight, if it weren't for the numbness that is slowly spreading through her body.

"We have to go," she tells him, and her speech slurs a little. "Before they recover. The ship's too far away."

"Did you get hit?" Neji asks, scanning her form, and Tenten thinks she sees a slight frown crease his forehead.

"I'm fine," she brushes him off, turning towards where she remembers the black disc to be. They have the _tentacula_, and this mission will be over soon.

It feels as if her blood and feet are slowing down the more steps she takes, and Neji moves too easily in comparison, even with the additional weight and distraction of the _tentacula_. Tenten grits her teeth, shakes her head-

Her foot snags on something, and she trips, falling hard against rocky ground. "Ugh, fuck," she snaps.

Neji is beside her faster than her mind can process his movements. Tenten squints blearily at him, shoves him away. "I'm fine," she tells him.

"No, you're not," is the last thing Tenten hears, over the pounding in her ears, before her vision grows fuzzy at the edges, and her body gives out.

* * *

><p>Tenten is in the middle of drifting along the dreary streets of her childhood, when Neji comes floating up next to her, naked once again.<p>

"Couldn't you have the decency to put some clothes on, at least?" she snaps, looking away.

"You like the tentacles better than you do me," he complains, insulted.

What does that have to do with clothes?

"Believe me, being naked isn't going to put you on my favorite persons list," Tenten tells him dryly. "And stop haunting me, damn you."

"I can haunt you from behind, while you're bent over." Neji smirks, and she rolls her eyes.

"That's sexual harassment," she growls.

"It isn't harassment if you want to bed me." Neji folds his arms across his chest. "You, Ino and I - what about that?"

"Oh gods, Hyuuga, get away from me." Tenten throws a punch at him. He blocks it deftly.

"You, me and the _tentacula_. I'm sure that is a better option," Neji suggests next.

It actually doesn't sound too bad- Wait just a sec. "Quit putting thoughts into my head!" she screeches, swinging her fist at his face.

"You know you want to," he tells her, and fades away just as suddenly.

* * *

><p>Tenten awakens to find herself in a rather awkward position - air shifts gently over her legs, and her hand is shoved between her thighs, a finger enveloped in wetness. She blinks, notes her heightened pulse, the distinct ache in her body, and pushes her finger further in, a little moan escaping her throat. It's a pleasant sensation to wake up to, and she shifts against the straps holding her down in zero gravity, slipping another finger over her swollen flesh-<p>

Hang on - zero gravity?

She squirms around to look at the rest of the lit cabin, only to find herself with an audience - Neji is leaning against the far wall (which isn't very far away at all), watching her, a tiny smirk on his face.

"The fuck?" she yelps, panicking and yanking her hand away from her groin. When did she remove her pants, anyway? Neji remains amused despite her poisonous glower at him, and she feels incredibly bare. "Aren't you manning the ship?" she snaps, faint heat rising to her cheeks.

"It's on autopilot," he tells her, lifting a brow as if her mental capacities were subpar. She bites her tongue (Tenten realizes her disadvantage here, and hates that she woke with a clouded mind)-

Until he floats across the space between them, and pauses by the edge of her bunk, brushing the backs of his fingers against her bare hip.

"You look as if you could appreciate some help, Lieutenant," he murmurs, lilac eyes sweeping from her face down to her toes, and back. Without warning, he reaches over and strokes the damp hair at the juncture of her thighs, where her hand just was.

"What the hell do you want?" she growls, and inhales sharply when he probes between her flesh.

"What do _you_ want?" he asks in return, and his finger slips along her cleft, to her sensitive nub, pressing heavily against it. Pleasure sears into her body.

"I want nothing to do with you," she growls, her voice almost a moan (but her body remembers him deep inside, and grows all the wetter for it). "Get your hands off me."

"Really?" Neji taunts. His finger dips into her, audaciously. "That's not what you said when I purged you of the poison."

Poison?

Tenten frowns, trying to remember, and the events on Osiris filter slowly back into her mind. It's enough for her to ignore the presence of his touch inside her. "What happened after you stunned the _zurgois_?"

Neji withdraws from her, slowly (she doesn't want to admit that she wants him back inside), examining the smear of moisture on his fingertip. The flush on her cheeks deepens. Tenten knows that she should be at his throat by now, knows that she could well stop him from touching her, but the straps are keeping her down (it's an excuse), and she wants answers from him (another excuse).

"I sealed the _tentacula_ in the containment unit, flew the ship over, and brought you and the specimen up," he tells her.

"You left me unconscious with the _zurgois_?" Tenten gapes.

"They were stunned." Neji frowns. "I stunned them another time, just in case."

She continues gaping at him. "Isn't it against protocol to stun aliens twice in a row?"

Neji lifts a regal eyebrow at her. "Would you rather discover that they have resistance to the stun gun, and woke up while I was still away?"

Tenten falls silent at that. "No," she finally admits.

He gestures towards the side, where her uniform is neatly folded. "I had to strip you to find the spines. Your panties were wet."

Neji probably had fun with that. "Thanks," she mutters, looking sourly at him. There are various band-aids over her body, supporting his words. "What did I say while you were... purging the poison?"

A smirk curves his lips. Neji sweeps a cool gaze over her. "You were begging me to fuck you."

She looks at him in horror. Of all things... Did she really? "Did- Did you?"

Only then does he frown. "No. My morals are above that."

Tenten snorts, rolls her eyes, secretly relieved.

"I would prefer to sample your flesh while you were fully awake," Neji continues, and she strains against the straps, fumbles for the clasp holding her chest down.

"You wouldn't," she snarls.

"Tenten." Her name is a whisper on his lips, and she falls into shocked silence when he leans over her, pressing his lips to her shoulder.

He reaches between her legs once again, with his steady touch. The tension grows and tightens in her middle; unbidden, her legs fall open in invitation, and Neji growls, pressing his finger back into her. Tenten groans. Her heart pounds in her ears; her hands fist - she loathes to be under his power like this, but his fingers feel so good, and-

Neji removes his touch, examines the moisture he's gathered on his fingers once again. Tenten glares at him, a variety of curses racing through her mind (though the most prominent line is, ironically, _Get back in there_). He looks over her again (she's especially aware of the flush on her face, and the cool air at her crotch), and remarks, "I have to return to the cockpit - do check your behavior, Lieutenant."

Neji turns, floating back towards the front of the ship.

"Fuck you," she mutters, glaring at his retreating back.

"You know you want to," is Neji's reply, and Tenten stares after him in dumbfounded silence. Was the Neji in her dream foretelling this?

The hunger in her belly does not abate, however, and she remembers the _tentacula_ specimen in the containment unit - without her lab access, this would likely be the last chance she'd get her hands on one. Tenten unbuckles the other straps over her body, catching a handrail as she floats away from the bunk. "Where's the containment unit?"

"In the back," Neji answers, and Tenten sees him turning to look at her from the pilot's seat. His eyes rove over her bare skin, pausing at her chest and hips, and she feels her mouth go dry. "It's locked with a combination key."

_Damn it._ She changes her course, floating over to him instead. It's not as if he hasn't seen her naked before, anyway.

"Give me access to the specimen," Tenten demands, grabbing hold of his headrest. Neji's attention slides between her face and her breasts. Her nipples are hard.

"Why should I?" He looks her in the eye, smirks. "You won't be able to seduce me and have me act according to your will, Lieutenant."

"Oh, really?" Tenten swings herself over him, straddling his hips. Neji is warm through his uniform. She leans in close, drags her breasts over his chest.

His breathing turns uneven.

It's her turn to smirk; Tenten lifts herself up slightly, brushing her nipple over his mouth, and Neji's eyes widen. He flicks his tongue out to wet his lips - the moisture catches on her skin, and she gasps.

"You'll find it wiser not to challenge me," Neji mutters, and Tenten wraps her legs around his hips, pressing her groin snugly to his. She isn't surprised to find him hard.

"What will your decision be, Hyuuga?" she murmurs in his ear, slides her tongue over his skin.

"You're so certain that you'll find yourself filled with _tentacula_," he grits. Tenten gasps when his palm comes up to cup her bottom; his fingers dip between her legs. He parts the wet folds of her flesh, exposing her to the cool air of the cockpit. Her body thrums with anticipation. She doesn't know if it's the thought of him, or the tentacles, fueling her actions now.

Neji lifts her off himself, by inches, and she hears the rasp of his zipper. Feels the familiar blunt tip sliding along her entrance. Tenten bites a moan down.

"Which would you prefer?" Neji asks quietly. She finds that she isn't quite able to think, not when he's so close to her, promising fulfillment. Does she really want the tentacles, when Neji is just a breath away?

At her silence, he presses his tip into her, and Tenten shivers, caught in his pale gaze.

Neji withdraws, and pushes in shallowly again, teasing her. Tenten decides that she doesn't have the patience to wait any longer.

She sinks herself down onto him, enveloping him with her body, the fact that she's come to him of her own accord be damned.

He groans, thrusts up at her, and Tenten loses her grasp on reality, when he fills her completely, with swift, deep strokes. It's a different feeling doing this without gravity - the strain on her limbs isn't there, and her breasts don't quite bounce with each movement. Neji takes her nipple into his mouth, drags his teeth along it; she arches, gasps, holding his head to her chest.

Her climax, when it rears its head, is a powerful force that rips through her body. Tenten cries out, clenches around Neji, and he continues sliding in her, spilling into her soon after.

* * *

><p><em>Konoha, Dec 12, 2030, 0755 hrs<em>

"Good morning, my youthful students!" Lee all but yells, before the simulation room doors have fully shut. "Are you ready for a fresh day of training?"

"My body feels like it's been torn in two," Konohamaru moans, dragging his feet towards Lee. "Is Tenten coming back yet?"

Lee jogs on his feet and surveys Tenten's trainees. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon look as though they've been dragged through hell and back, just after half a day of his training. _Tenten has been too soft on them,_ he thinks. Hopefully that mission with Neji will restore her youthfulness. "Tenten will be back soon," he tells them sagely. "In the meantime, feel the joy in your bodies! That ache in your muscles means that you're getting stronger!"

He drops to his hands and begins doing his push-ups. Moegi looks at him with doe-like eyes, but Lee has resolved not to give in.

"Can we please do fewer push-ups today?" she begs.

"Is a thousand too many?" Lee frowns. "I could do five hundred when I was your age!"

The look in Udon's eyes is almost catatonic. Moegi grabs him and shakes him awake.

Lee brightens suddenly. "I know what will help!" he exclaims.

"What?" Moegi sends him a wary stare.

"I shall give you the most youthful outfits to aid in your training!" Lee announces, gesturing to his own spandex outfit. "They're highly recommended by Captain Gai - the material helps to siphon the sweat off your body, and it's light, breathable-"

The three of them shudder visibly.

"I want Tenten back today!" Konohamaru howls. "To think we thought her training was tough!"

Lee looks at him in surprise. "Well, in her day, Tenten did as many push-ups as Neji and I did! She strove not to have expectations on her lowered because she's female - see where she is now!"

The look of enlightenment in Moegi's eyes is priceless.

"She's probably busy snogging Hyuuga now," Konohamaru mutters, nudging Moegi and Udon, who stare at him in a mixture of disgust and uncertainty. "I just want to save enough energy to complete that mission she gave us."

"Come on, guys," Moegi grins, Lee's spandex suit threat forgotten. "You aren't going to lose to a girl, right?"

Konohamaru and Udon stare speechlessly at her when she drops to the ground, and begins her push-ups in earnest.

* * *

><p><em>AN: This chapter has a bit of something for everyone lol. :P Anyway, I've officially finished writing Blackmail, and am currently going through the editing stages - have revised earlier chapters to clean up some minor typos/details. _

_It's also my birthday today... so if you enjoyed the chapter, drop a review! ;) _


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